Something To Live For
by WalkingPotterGirl14
Summary: Annabelle, or Anna, didn't think that the dead would start to rise up and eat them. She had only heard about it in movies. So when that actually DOES happen, she takes her children and is on the run to protect their lives. A year later, she never thought she would run into her past in this world. But she does. Set in time between season 3 and 4 and into season four. (SEQUEL UP!)
1. Old Friends

_**Chapter 1: Old Friends**_

"Aria, you have to keep it steady," Annabelle chastises the younger girl. The fifteen year old huffs, straightening out her arms. "If you don't keep it steady you're not going to hit your target."

"I'm trying, mama!" she replies. Annabelle chuckles.

"Well, try harder!" The fifteen year old simply huffs again and points her gun at the makeshift target on the tree. "Take a deep breath, then pull the trigger." Aria breaths, then pulls back the trigger, letting the bullet fly, directly landing on the bulls-eye. "There you go, Ari!"

"Yea, Ari!" her little sister yelled from the tent. Aria smiles at the child, running over and tickling her, making the child laugh.

"Ok, you two," Anna laughs, walking over to her two daughters. "Stop your messing around, lets have something to eat." The two girls stop and sit down while Anna makes some sandwiches from some meat she found the other day that was still fresh.

"Mama, where did you find the meat?" Aria asks, taking a bite of her sandwich. "I thought half the food now was spoiled?"

"When we were in that mall, it still had electricity somehow, so the food was still good. I hope none of those lurkers get in there." Scarlett looks up, a scared look in her eyes. Anna smiles at her young daughter. "Don't worry, sweetie, there's none here."

The six year old looks down, her dark brown bangs covering her eyes. "I don't like those things, mama," she mumbles. Anna smiles sadly and places her arm around her shoulders.

"I don't think anyone does, sweetie. But don't worry, they won't get you. Not if we're still around." Aria laughs, making her mother and Scarlett look at her. "And what are you laughing at?" she chuckles.

"Remember when we took her home her first day of preschool? I was just remembering how she looked when she saw you. A big smile on her face. 'Mama, I made new friends!'" Anna laughs.

"Oh, I remember that. You were so adorable. And then we took her out for pizza to celebrate her first day of school. Oh, that seems ages ago now." Scarlett smiles, but then frowns slightly.

"I miss pizza," she blurts out. Both girls laugh.

"So do I, kid. So do I."

Later in the day, around eight, when the sun was just leaving the sky, Anna, Aria, and Scarlett were sitting around the fire pit they had constructed. Scarlett was slowly falling asleep, leaning against Anna's side, while Aria was wide awake.

"Kid, how are you so hyper right now?" Anna asks, chuckling a little. Aria smiles widely, shaking her leg, a tick of hers that always annoyed her mother.

"I don't know! Maybe it's the fact that we actually had real meat today to eat! It was amazing!" she yells, annoying Scarlett.

"Aria!" she whines, making Anna laugh slightly. "I'm trying to sleep!" _SNAP._

Anna jumps up, gun pointed at where the sound came from. "Aria, gun up. Scarlett, behind me. " Both girls did as they were told. Aria adjusted her stance and pointed where her mom was positioned. "We heard you," she growls. "Get out."

Nothing moves.

"You have two guns pointed against you right now. If you don't come out, we'll make you," she yells at the intruder. Scarlett clutched onto her mother's right leg, in fear for what was behind the trees.

"I don't want to hurt you," the intruder finally says. Annabelle realizes that voice. Her eyes widened. She lowers her gun. "I saw the fire and came across your campsite."

"Daryl?" she asks quietly, unsure if the voice is really her old friend. There was silence from the stranger for a moment, and then he spoke.

"Annabelle?" he asked back. She smiles. 'I knew I knew that voice!' she thinks.

"Aria, put the gun down." She did as she was told, a confused look sent towards her mother. The man steps out from behind the tree, and Annabelle's smile only widens more. There he was, but he looked totally different from the last time she saw him. His hair was longer, obviously, but his arms also seemed more muscular. His whole body did. And he _seriously needed a shower._ But either way, she couldn't believe he was standing right in front of her.

Meanwhile, he was doing the same. 'Damn…I can't believe she's alive…then again, this is Anna I'm looking at…' Last time he had seen her, she had shorter hair, always down. She never put up her hair. But now it was in a loose side braid, some pieces of hair slipping out occasionally. But even being out in the middle of the woods, in _Georgia_, she still managed to stay partially clean, only her clothes and a few patches of her face were dirty. 'How is it that even in the God damn apocalypse she still finds a way to look _good?!'_

"Jesus, I thought you were dead."

Both startled themselves by saying that at the same time. Anna laughs slightly, and he smirks. Aria looks between them, and then it all comes back to her. A look of realization comes across her face.

"Oh…Daryl," she realizes, smiling. Annabelle chuckles at her daughter. Took her long enough. "When was the last time we saw you?" she laughs.

"Who knows?" Annabelle laughs. She smiles at Daryl. "It's been a long time."

"Good to see ya," he says to Anna and Aria, an actual smile crossing his features.

"Mama, who is he?" Scarlett asks, still clutching to her mothers leg. She smiles at the young girl.

"An old friend."

The four survivors were later gathered around the fire. Annabelle had noticed he had a few cuts lining his arms, some still bleeding, so now she was attending to the, cleaning and wrapping them up in bandages, while the two daughters started to ask questions. Scarlett, ironically, was asking the most questions. But Daryl didn't mind. He hadn't seen Aria since she was 12, and only seen Scarlett when she was a baby. It's been a long time.

"So, you're group is in that prison a few miles back?" Aria asks, rubbing her hands by the soft glow of the fire, trying to stay warm. He nods, then flinches slightly when Anna starts to clean one of the wounds. She smiles sheepishly.

"Sorry," she chuckles. He mutters something in response. "You know I don't speak grunt." He rolls his eyes, shaking his head slightly.

"But there were hundreds of things in there!" Scarlett says. Aria nods, agreeing.

"Did you clear out ALL of them?" Aria asks, amazed. "Wow, that's pretty cool."

"'Pretty cool?'" Scarlett replies. "More like amazing! You're like superman!" This causes both Anna and Daryl to snicker.

"I ain't no superhero, kid," he replied, but she simply shook her head.

"You killed all those monsters! Anyone who can do that is awesome!" Anna smiles at her daughter.

"Yeah, he is." She looks back to Daryl. "I bet you're the group's main hunter," she says softly. "You've probably been the one snagging all my deer."

"You know how to hunt, too?" Scarlett asks, surprised. "You're just like mama!" He smiles at the young girl.

"I know. I taught her myself." Aria's eyes widened.

"No shit?"

"Aria Elizabeth Williams, watch your mouth!" Annabelle says, trying to discipline her, but a small smile on her face at the same time, which made Daryl start to laugh. Aria looks down.

"Sorry," she mumbles.

"You got in trouble!" Scarlett taunts. Aria glares at her, pushing her shoulder.

"Shut up," she sneers, but turns back to the hunter. "But seriously? You taught my mom? How much older than her are you?"

"He's five years older," Anna replied, finishing up a bandage.

"So, if you're 30…then he's 35?" Anna stares at her eldest, an eyebrow quirked.

"Yes, Ari. That's what we call 'basic math,'" she laughs out, causing the others to laugh as well. Aria's face reddens.

"I didn't mean it like that!" she sputters out. "I meant you always talked about how you two went to school together for 10 years. How is it possible that you were even in the same school, let alone the same grade?"

"Eh, I was a bad kid," Daryl replied, playing with one of his arrows. Anna rolls her eyes.

"Meaning he got left back so much and so any times he ended up in my class in 4th grade. If it wasn't for me, he would probably _still_ be in school today!"

"Hey, I got a lot better at school," he replied to her. She snorts, taking her Syracuse Baseball cap off and smacks him on the back of his head.

"Because of me!" she scorns, still smacking his head. He was snickering, trying to stop her arms. "You would have been left back AGAIN if we hadn't met!" He finally grabs her wrists stopping her in her tracks.

"That's still your choice of weapon, huh? A baseball cap?" She glares at him, but then hears the laughter coming from her two daughters. She sighs.

"You're turning my daughters against me," she mumbles. He chuckles, letting go of her wrists. "I'm going to wake up, and my daughters will be pulling some prank because you said so. They already drive me crazy enough."

"Oh no, that's my job. They'll just help me do it." All of them laugh, but not before Anna caught Scarlett's small yawn.

"Ok guys, time for bed," Anna says. Both girls whine in protest.

"Mommy!" Scarlett whines, but Anna catches another yawn. She raises an eyebrow, walking over and picking her up.

"Sweetie, you'll be asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow. Aria, come on. Give me a minute, Dar," she says. He nods, and she brings Scarlett into her and Aria's tent, the lather right behind her. She lays Scarlett down on her cot. "Promise me you'll go to sleep?" she asks. Scarlett yawns again and nods. Anna smiles and kisses her forehead. "Goodnight, sweetie."

"Mama?" she heard from Aria. Anna gets up and turns to her oldest daughter, who was getting into her cot. She sits next to her.

"Yeah?"

"Is Daryl staying?" she whispers. Anna chuckles.

"He has a group, you know." Aria seems relentless.

"But maybe he can bring us back with him or something? We just found him alive and now we're just going to let him leave? I mean-"

"Aria, get to sleep. He's staying the night because it's too late for him to head back. But I don't know what'll happen after that. But right now all you need is to go to sleep, ok?" Aria's quiet, but then sighs, nodding. "Goodnight, ok?" She smiles, nodding. Anna smiles back and walks out of the tent, zipping it up in the process.

She turns back to the fire to finally talk to Daryl by herself, but only to see that he wasn't there. She furrows her brow, walking over to the fire. His crossbow was still leaning against one of the chairs, so he hadn't left. But where was he?

She glances near her tent for a split second, seeing if he was near it, when she feels strong, muscular arms wrap around her waist, picking her up off the ground and spinning her around. She lets out a squeak of surprise at first, then laughing slightly, but low enough not to wake the children who were probably now asleep.

When he sets her down, she has a huge smile on her face, but slaps his shoulder lightly. "My children are trying to sleep! And you doing that is not helping!" she chuckles. He snickers slightly too, but then grins stupidly at her, which caused her to laugh even more. "Don't look at me like that," she mumbles.

"What? I'm just grinnin'" he replies. She snorts, taking his hand.

"Shut up. If you want to keep talking lets head to my tent. I seriously want the kids to sleep." He nods and follows her into her tent, zipping it up behind him.

**Children POV**

_Before the tent_

Aria listens to her mother's gleeful laughter with Daryl. She remembered him. He was the one dude that was always around her mother when she was a child. The last time she had seen him was when she was 12, and that was three years ago. Sure, she had heard her mother talk with him on the phone _at least_ once a month, but she hadn't actually seen his face in forever. Out of all the friendships she had ever seen, whether it was kids, teenagers, or adults, she had never seen a friendship so…deep like her mother and Daryl's.

When the world went to shit, she forgot about everyone besides her family. When she saw a wide smile spread across her mothers face when he showed up, she was confused. Then he stepped out. And it all came back to her.

_A knock sounded on the door of Aria and her mother's apartment in NYC. Aria dropped the Barbie dolls she was holding and ran through the foyer to the front door, climbing up the stool to look out the peephole. She smiles when she see's who it is._

"_Mommy! Daryl's here!" she yells. She gets of the stool and pushes it to the side, opening the door. Her smile grows larger. "Hi Daryl!" she says. He smiles down at the young girl, then scooped her up in his arms, making her giggle in surprise. _

"_Hey, kid," he says. "Where's your mama?" She points to her mother's bedroom. _

"_In there. She's talking with my teacher on the phone. I got in trouble." She mumbles the last part, looking down a little. _

"_Well, life's not life without getting in trouble. What'd ya do?" he asks curiously. She smiles at him, happy that he wasn't mad at her._

"_Well, this boy who sits next to me placed a spider in my hair during recess today! And everyone knows I hate spiders. So when we was back in the classroom, I stole some superglue off the shelf and poured some on his seat. When he got up to go to the bathroom, he was stuck to the seat! And when he did get off, some of his pants ripped!" He laughs brightly at what she said. _

"_Nice, kid. That's a good prank. But I guess someone ratted you out." She scowls, making him chuckle._

"_Joey did! He's one of my friends and he told Ms. Nolan! Now I'm in trouble because of it!" He snickers._

"_Well, ya did rip a boys pants. Was his underwear showin'?" She smiles huge, nodding her head. He shakes his head. "You're a troublemaker, ya know that?" _

"_Yeah, she is," he mother said, coming down the stairs finally. "Why did you have to place glue on his seat, Aria? Why not something that wouldn't have ruined his clothes? His mother has to pay for that now," she says, scolding her daughter._

"_Aw, come on, Aria. Lighten up," Daryl says, seeing the girls happiness tone down a little. "We all get into trouble. This is just her first time. We were just like her when we were kids." _

"_Yeah but I never did that!" she chuckles. She looks at her daughter for a second, then sighs in defeat. "Fine, just don't do it again, ok? But if you do, do it to Daryl." He glares at her._

"_Hey!" he says. She laughs, grabbing her coat._

"_Yeah, I said that. But if we're heading to the zoo today, we have to get going now. Aria, go put on your coat, ok?" She nods and Daryl places her down. Running to her room, she distinctly hears her mother say to Daryl, "You are so lucky you're so good with her."_

_Aria smiles. She was always happy when Daryl came to the apartment. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like if she and her mommy were together. Then she would have a daddy, too. And if she wanted a daddy, she wanted it to be Daryl. _

_She threw on her purple coat and ran back to the pair, who were now waiting for her. _

"_Why is it so damn cold in New York?" he grumbles. Anna laughs._

"_You get used to it. Let's go."_

Aria smiles at the memory. She was such a little kid, but she really did love Daryl like he was part of the family.

Why weren't they together yet?!

When her mother had been…touched again and gotten pregnant, he was with her throughout the whole entire process. She was sure at that time that they would be together, but here they were, six years later, STILL not together.

She rolls her eyes. This was not the time to be thinking of finding her mother a partner. She closes her eyes and prepares for sleep to take her, but the sound of her little sisters voice stops her.

"Aria?" she said softly. She could tell that she was sleepy.

"What, Scarlett?" she replies, just as softly.

"Do you think Mr. Daryl will stay?" she asks. Aria sighed.

"I don't know, sis. Maybe." She was silent for a moment.

"I think they like-like each other," she whispers, making Aria giggle.

"Yeah, me too."

"We have to do something," Scarlett yawns. Aria smiles softly.

"Yeah, maybe. But go to sleep now, Scarlett. You promised mama."

"Ok," she replies. And not a minute later, she heard the soft breathing of her sister. She was out cold.

Aria leans back in her bed. She heard her moms tent zip up and could only guarantee that they were both in there. She sighs, closing her eyes. 'Maybe we _can_ do something about it,' she thought. Sleep took her after that, sending her into dreamland.


	2. Catching Up

Chapter 2

**Hey guys! So, I thought I would explain a little bit of things in this story. First, Daryl may seem OOC, but this is his friend that he's known for twenty years, so he's going to be a totally different person around her. Second, I'm still kind of new to the whole fanfiction thing, so if any of you have advice, I'd be happy to take it. And don't worry, I'm not rushing the relationship in this chapter. It may seem like it, but I'm not. It'll happen later on. They're just really, **_**really**_** close friends right now. **

**Also, I've decided that with every chapter up until I reach twenty one, I'm going to include a scene fro their past like the one listed below. This one starts from the beginning of their friendship. I'm looking forward to continuing this story. Thanks for the followers! It really means a lot. **

**And OMG THEY WON THREE PCA'S TONIGHT GOOF JOB WALKING DEAD! AND LET ME JUST SAY WHEN NORMAN WAS PRESENTING I WAS DYING. XD**

**Ok, on with the story!**

_**4**__**th**__** Grade**_

"_Lily, pass me the ball!" Annabelle yells at the top of her lungs, waving her hands in front of her opponent. Lily cringes._

"_Yell a bit louder, Anna. I don't think the town over heard you!" she yells back, passing the ball. Anna sticks out her tongue and dribbles the basketball down the court towards the hoop, easily dodging the others and getting to the other side. She makes it to the basket, threw the ball in, and cheers as it swooshes through the basket, ending the game. _

"_16 points! We win!" Joey yells, Anna and Lily's other teammate._

"_Nice job!" Lily says, high-fiving her teammates while smirking at the other team. "We always win," she says. Lacey, the opponent, and her team, glare at her._

"_We want a rematch!" Anna snorts._

"_Sure! But prepare to be beaten again!"_

"_Heck no! We'll win this time!" Lily laughs. _

"_Please! We beat you once! We can beat you again!" she yells, throwing her arms up in the air. Anna laughs, smiling at her friend. _

"_I'm gonna go get a drink!" she whispers to Lily. "Keep tormenting them. I wanna see where this goes fro here!" Lily snickers at her friend and nods, a bright smile on her face._

_Anna runs through the playground, dodging all the screaming and playing students. She rounds the corner to get into the building, trying to get to the water fountain right outside the door, but trips on what seems to be a human leg, and she falls, knees first, onto the concrete, letting out a resounding "Oof!" when she hits the bottom. _

"_Are ya ok?" someone asks fro above. She looks up and stares at the person who had accidently tripped her. Daryl Dixon._

_He was in her class. Sat in the back and always caused trouble. But personally, she always liked it. She hated Ms. Bednark as much as he did, and when he said stuff that drove her insane, she always had a small smile on her face. It was fun to see him piss her off._

_But what made him know was that he was in the 4__th__ grade. He had started going to Kindergarten a year later then everyone else his age, and he got left back several times. Now, he was repeating 4__th__ grade, and he was in Anna's class, when he should be a freshman in high school. He was 15, she was 10._

_Maybe that's the reason he's alone right now. _

"_Yeah," she replies. He doesn't do anything for a second except look down at her, but then gingerly offers her a hand for her to take. She smiles at him, taking it as he helped her up. He seemed surprised she even looked at him. Everyone looked drop dead terrified when he was around. No one ever came near him, let alone talk to him._

"_Sorry," he mumbles when she dusts off the dirt on her knees. She shakes her head._

"_It's nothing. I was running to fast. No problem." She goes for the handle to the door, but stops in reaching it. She turns back to him, leaning against the door. "What're you doing here all by yourself?" she asks sweetly. _

_At first, he looks at her like she has three heads, astonished that someone was actually speaking to him. He hadn't talked with anyone this year, except threatening people. He was thinking of just ignoring her to see if she would go away. But there was something about the smile on her face that made him talk. _

"_Don't got no one to talk to," he replies, leaning against the wall again. She nods. _

"_Huh," she replies, leaning off the door. She walks over to his right, leaning on the part of the wall next to him. His brow furrows._

"_What're ya doing?" he asks. She simply smiles again, her perfectly straight teeth showing. _

"_Going to the moon. What does it look like? Now you have someone to talk to." He raises an eyebrow at her before chuckling slightly, shaking his head._

"_Ya don't want to be friends with me, kid." In retaliation, she raises one of her eyebrows. _

"_You're a kid, too, you know? And why not? Just because you torture Ms. Bednark doesn't mean you're a bad guy. Personally, I love when you do that. It makes me smile. Sometimes it's the highlight of my day. I hate that bitch." He laughs at her use of words._

"_Whoa! Your mama know ya use that kind of language?" he taunts. She snorts in reply._

"_Please. That woman knows nothing about what I do at school." She's silent for a moment, enjoying the gleeful screams of the younger children playing tag. "I saw you hunting the other day. At West Woods? Using a crossbow?" He nods._

"_Yeah, I was there. With my brother. Why?" Her mocha eyes lit up when talking about it._

"_I've always wanted to go hunting. It seems like so much fun. Plus, my brother told me it's a great stress reliever, which is always nice." He was still surprised at the fact that she said she wanted to hunt._

"_Ya wanna learn how to hunt?" he asked surprised. She nods, that bright smile still on her face. _

"_So much! But my mother says it's 'un-lady-like,'" she says using air quotes. She snorts. "If she knew what I did at school, she would know I'm anything but a lady." He chuckles a little._

"_Ya don't seem like the kind of girl who would do that kind of stuff." She scoffs._

"_Well, obviously you need to learn a bit more about me. First things first, I'm not a lady half the time. There, now you know," she laughs, trying to have a straight face but failing miserably. And because her laughter is just that contagious, he starts to laugh as well. When she's calmed down enough, she asks him another question. "What did you get on that math test?" _

_He suddenly looks down, a painful look coming over his face. "Not so well," he replies…well, more like mumbles. She nods in understanding, but then an idea sparks up in her head. A smile forms on her face._

"_Hey, look here. I have an idea," she says. He looks up, a confused look on his face. "I have a proposition for you." He raises an eyebrow._

"_What kind of proposition?" She smiles._

"_I'm top of our class. At least as far as I know. If you can teach me how to hunt, I'll tutor you and make sure you do better on the next test." He seems hesitant._

"_What about your mama and all that?" She shakes her head._

"_I can tell her I'm going to Lily's house. She always believes me when I say that. We can just meet up somewhere. What do you say?" He looks down. _

"_I don't know." She rolls her eyes._

"_What're you afraid of? Come on, it's just a little fun. And in retaliation you'll do better in school…please, Daryl?" He looks up at the sound of her name, eyes wide for a split second, but they retract to his regular size a moment later. He sighs, nodding._

"_Fine," he replies. She smiles._

"_Trust me. It'll be great. And maybe I can help you torture Ms. Bednark as well…?" she asks hesitantly. He smirks at this, making her snicker slightly. She goes to ask another question when she hears her name being called._

"_ANNABELLE!" she hears from Lily on the other side of the playground. Anna slaps her head._

"_Crap. I need to head back to her or she'll kill me. I'll see you in class, ok? Bye!" she says, running back to her friends on the court. He stares at her until she's out of sight. _

'_This girl has no clue what she's getting into,' he thinks, snickering to himself. 'Annabelle…'_

**Present **

The two stepped into Anna's tent, a huge smile on Anna's face. She still couldn't believe Daryl was standing right in front of her.

"What're ya smiling about?" he asks suspiciously. She simply grins back.

"The fact that you're still alive. I can't believe this…you're staying in here tonight so make yourself comfy on the mattress," she says, patting the other side of her bed. He shakes his head.

"No, I can take the ground," he says, placing his crossbow in the corner. She raises an eyebrow at him, an amused look spread across her face.

"Daryl, we've shared a bed before. Stop being chivalrous and get in here. The ground is freezing." He snorts in response, but eventually settles next to her on the bed, taking off his vest. Anna noticed it was the same one that had the angel wings on the back. 'He's had that since we were in high school,' she thinks, laughing inwardly.

Except she didn't. She laughed out loud.

"Ok, what is your problem , girl?" he asks, turning to face her. But even she could see the mischievous glint in his eyes. She laughed again in response. "What?" he asks again, but this time laughing a little. She calmed herself down a little to answer.

"Nothing, just the fact that you're STILL wearing the same vest that you've had since high school," she chuckles, taking off her sweatshirt she was wearing.

"Can't help it. Means a lot," he says, a small half smile on his face directed at her. She smiles in return. "The one thing I had on me that reminded me of ya."

"Yeah, that's because I got it for you, cowboy," she says.

"Back to nicknames, are we? Alright…_princess._" She groans in response, turning to him, crossing her arms over her chest, an annoyed look on her face.

"Out of all the nicknames you had for me you choose the on_e _that you _know_ annoys that hell out of me?" He nods.

"That's the point, princess." She rolls her eyes and takes off her tank to change into her t-shirt for sleep, but not before hearing Daryl mutter, "Jesus."

She turns to him, t-shirt in hand, ready to explain all the cuts and bruises on her body, when she finds him off the bed and in front of her, already looking closely at them, taking her arms in his hands, trying to see any finger prints. "Daryl-"

"Who the hell did this?" he growled. She shakes her head. She knew he would react like this.

"No one. It's just me being clumsy throughout this whole entire apocalypse. No one…touched me. Nothing like that." His eyes are still narrowed. "Daryl," she says tiredly. He sighs, letting go of her arms.

"Ya better be telling me the truth, Anna," he mutters, getting into the bed. She chuckles, sitting next to him and throwing on her shirt. "Cause I swear to God if anyone-"

"Touched me you would put an arrow right through their eyes? It's the truth. Nothing's wrong. But, since you are here, tell me about your adventures in this world. Been a year. Tell me about your group and all that," she says, leaning in closer to hear.

And so he did. She learnt about the original Atlanta group and all the members, what had happened and what he did. All the deaths and close calls. He told her about Sophia, and how he spent hours on end looking for that little girl, getting shot in the process. He tells her about the farm, the CDC, the eight, long, gruesome months without shelter, and then the prison and how they cleared it all out.

Then he went into detail about one of the leaders, Rick Grimes, and how his wife had died in child birth, and how he went insane. But that he has regained a little bit of his old self now. The Governor came next, and he talked about how he was taken and found his brother who had been left in Atlanta. Told her about the fights, and told her about taking in the Woodberry people into the prison, and then up to the present, where he was out on a hunting trip and he found their camp.

She listened the whole entire time.

"Whatever happened to Merle?" she asks quietly. He looks down, that same painful expression she had gotten used to. She immediately understood. "I'm so sorry, Daryl," she says, placing an arm around his shoulders. He shakes his head.

"It's fine. He was an asshole anyway."

"He's still family, and you keep family in this kind of world, even if said family are assholes." He snickers quietly, shaking his head.

"If I'm supposed to keep my family close, why weren't ya there?" he asks. She bursts out laughing, but covers her mouth, as not to disturb the kids. "Hey, I'm not joking."

"Did you ever think about me?" she asks sincerely. He looks at her, a sincere smile on his face.

"Ya kiddin' me?" he says softly. "Everyday. I thought about ya, Aria, Scarlett, hoping ya and the kids were safe. But I didn't think ya would be down here surviving. I thought ya would be back in the city or some shit like that." She chuckles softly.

"Yeah, we were visiting family down here when the world turned to shit. Bad sense of timing. But at least I found you," she says, placing her head on his shoulder. "I'd wonder if you were ok too. But then I thought, 'This Is Daryl we're talking about. He'll be fine.' But you can never be to safe."

He was silent for a second before murmuring, "I'm just glad yer safe." She fells something on her head and realizes Daryl kissed her forehead. She smiles at him.

"Me too." She grabs a water bottle and hands it to him. "Here, have some water. I got more in my pack." He grabbed it from her hands and opened the top, loving the feeling of cold, fresh water running down his dry throat. "So, tell me a little more about this group. What about that chick, uh…Carol! You said you guys were close. Are you together?"

Water comes flying out of his mouth.

She starts to laugh really hard, trying to conceal it in her pillow, while he was busy coughing up his lungs. She pats his back as he does this, but was still laughing at his reaction.

When he had calmed down enough, he looked at her. Just looked at her. She giggled. "I'll take that as a no," she laughs, leaning back against the mattress again. "Night, Dixon."

"Oh no, you're not getting away that easily," he growls, doing the unthinkable to her: Tickling her. Her one weakness.

"No…Daryl, stop!" she laughs, trying hard not to wake up the kids in the tent over. "Daryl, please!" she laughs. By now he was practically on top of her, ticking her sides. Her face was red.

"Not until ya say sorry!" he replied.

"Never!" she says, trying to stop her laughter, but he's still got her pinned.

"Come on, ya know ya want to," he replies. She's still laughing.

"Fine, I'm sorry for asking! It was a stupid question!" she finally says, laughing out. He smirks down at her and moves his hands away from her sides, finally giving her time to breath. "You suck, Daryl," she chuckles.

"I know," he replies. She looks up at him, and is instantly trapped in his gaze. His icy blue eyes were staring down at her, and he had a small smile on his face. 'I haven't had that much fun in ages,' he thought.

Her cheeks are a bright red from him staring at her, but thank God there was still red there from laughing so hard. She would be mortified if she was actually blushing in front of him. No words were exchanged between the two, but Anna felt Daryl move his hands upward to her hands. He sighs.

"I don't want to leave ya," he says softly. Taking the initiative, Anna intertwines their fingers. "Ya need to come back with me." She smiles.

"I was wondering when you would ask that. Aria was wondering, too." He chuckles.

"She was, was she?" Anna nods.

"Seems she wants to go back and be with some kids her age. She's gotten sick of Scarlett and I." He snickers, letting go of her hands and laying next to her.

"Just to warn ya, even though Rick had slightly gained back some of his older self, he's still very wary when it comes to new people after what happened with the Governor." She rolls her eyes.

"As long as your there, I'm pretty sure we'll be fine. Plus, I have kids, so that's got to get me some brownie points."

"Anna-"

"Go to sleep, Dixon. You're tickling tired me out." She feels him chuckle beside her, and she closes her eyes. But when she hears the soft snores coming from Daryl, that's when she finally gets to sleep.


	3. Prison

**Chapter 3: Prison**

_Two sets of feet dangled from a branch high up in a tree. Laughter could be heard throughout the forest echoing of the trees, alerting every animal within a 100 foot radius that there were humans in the area. _

"_I couldn't sleep for a week after watching 'The Exorcist,'" Anna remarked to Daryl, leaning against the tree trunk. "It scared the shit out of me." He snorts._

"_That movie isn't that scary," he replies, rolling his eyes. She scoffs._

"_Oh yeah? And what is the scariest movie you ever watched? Alien?" she teases. He glares at her._

"_Ya know I hate that movie," he grumbles. She thinks for a second._

"_What about 'The Shining?'" _

"_That's not really scary. That more or less messes with your brain. It didn't scare me as much as I thought it would." She throws her hands up in the air, annoyed._

"_Does anything scare you? Jesus!" He chuckles at her reaction._

"_I don't get scared that easily. What about ya?" he asks. She looks at him, and she sees a hint of amusement in his eyes. She smirks._

"_Why?" she asks. He shrugs. _

"_Just want to know," he replies. She humfs, looking out towards the forest, silent for a second before replying._

"_Spiders," she mumbles. Oh, but he hears. And he laughs. Loud. "Shut up!"_

"_You're afraid of spiders?!" he laughs out. She frowns._

"_I hate them and all their eight legs. Oh, I shouldn't have told you that!" she whines, resting her head on her knees. "You're gonna find a spider and put it in my hair or something!" He shakes his head, but he still has the grin on his face._

"_No I'm not gonna do that," he chuckles, relaxing against the tree again. She rolls her eyes._

"_Of course you won't," she mumbles. The two are silent for a few minutes, but it's a comfortable silence, the sounds of the animals around them, talking to each other. He speaks up first, surprising her._

"_It wasn't making fun of ya, ya know? I just thought that it was funny that a brave girl like ya are afraid of such small things that mean nothing." She realizes he's trying to say sorry. Chuckling a little, she waves her hand._

"_It's fine, Daryl. A lot of people laugh at first. I've gotten used to it," she replies. She decides to pay him back with another. "I'm afraid of falling out of this tree. I feel like the branch is going to snap at any time. And I really don't want to be the victim of a tree falling." He chuckles a bit at her statement._

"_Used to hate climbing tree's too. Now it's one of my main hobbies." She smiles._

"_Don't get me wrong, I love climbing trees, just not hanging on a branch, from really high, probably risking my life." Both laugh again before Anna asks another question. "How'd you do on the History test?" He's silent for a second before replying._

"_90." She cheers, making him chuckle._

"_You seem to be really good at history. I'm surprised by that." He looks at her with a confused expression. _

"_Why?" She shrugs._

"_I guess I just didn't peg you as a guy who likes history, let alone get a 90 on the Civil War test. I'm impressed. You're doing a lot better this year for some strange reason." He scoffs._

"'_For some strange reason'? Maybe I'm just smart, ever think of that in yer little head?" he said, poking her on the forehead. She laughs, moving his hand away._

'_I didn't mean it like that, dummy. I'm just saying I'm proud of you. You went from dropout to actual student, and you're doing good in your classes. That's all that matters right now." _

"_You're still little miss valedictorian." She laughs._

"_I'm not valedictorian, I'm just really smart. Why do you think I tutored you? Then again, you taught me how to hunt without my parents knowing. God, I would love to see the look on my mothers face if she saw how I was with a shotgun. She'd probably drop dead into her grave right then and there!" she laughs. "Boy, would I pay to see that!" He chuckles slightly._

"_Your parents are way too strict. Do they ever let ya out besides go to Lily's house?" he asks. He had met Lily a while back and was surprised at how open she was about his and Anna's friendship. She was actually nice to him. She shakes her head._

"_Nowhere. And of course, half the time I sneak out to go see you." He snorts again._

"_What would your parents think if they saw ya with me?" She laughs immediately._

"_Ha! If my dad saw me with you, he would shoot you. But if my mom saw us-oh God, I don't even want to think about that. She would probably do more than just shoot you. She would beat you to the ground. She's heard about your family, your brother. Tells me to stay away from you," she says, rolling her eyes._

"_Why don't ya?" _

"_I never listen to my mom. She never lets me have fun. If I did, I would have never talked to you back in 4__th__ grade. Now look at me, I'm climbing trees and almost falling to my death. Thanks Daryl," she says sarcastically, making him snicker slightly. "No, but seriously. If it wasn't for you, I probably would be the person I am today. I love being this girl who can be girly, but can also kick butt and shoot a gun. And be cool enough to hang out with a Dixon." He shakes his head._

"_We ain't cool, that's for sure." Anna frowns._

"_Yeah you are. If you weren't, you wouldn't be best friends with someone whose _five years younger _than you." He smirks at that remark. "So shut up. You're cool, at least to me." He smiles at her and she smiles back. "Hey, did you hear about that party at the barn on Lilfield Lane?" He nods, looking back out at the forest._

"_Yeah, and didn't someone call the cops or something?" She nods, but a serious look comes over her face, leaning in closer._

"_Yeah, because it was CRAZY. And I heard in the news that an eighth grade girl was RAPED at the party out near the backyard! I just…can't anymore! I completely hate everyone." He nods, agreeing._

"_Yer not the only one," he replies. She snickers a little._

"_Let's move to Mars, then. Get the hell out of here." She suggests. He chuckles._

"_Ya got the rocket ship?" She nods, a huge smile on her face._

"_Lets go, right now," she laughs. He shakes his head._

"_In your dreams, Anna." She pushes his shoulder._

"_Hey! A girl can dream!" she laughs. He pushes her shoulder back, but this time he did it with a little too much force. She loses her grip on the tree and starts to slip, but before she can scream and fall down, he quickly wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her back up, chuckling a little, and lets her get her balance back on the tree before letting her go. She glares at him. "DARYL DIXON YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!" she says, pounding his chest. _

"_Hey, I just saved ya! No thanks?" he asks, a mocking sad tone. She glares at him again, crossing her arms, and rolling her eyes. _

"_You're such a pest," she remarks._

"_But yet ya still stick around," he replies. She chuckles._

"_I'm questioning why now!" she yells, but laughter seeped out. She couldn't deny it. She could pretend all she wanted, but she could never leave him. He's just too damn attached now. And she liked that._

**Present**

Annabelle was the first one to wake up the next morning. Her eyes opened droopily, trying to adjust to the sunlight coming into the tent. She made to move but felt something around her body, keeping her firmly in place. She looks down and rolls her eyes. Daryl had his arms latched around her, holding her close to his body. And something told her he wasn't going to be waking up any time soon unless she woke him.

For a moment, she simply stayed in that position, staring at his face. He seemed so peaceful in his sleep, younger looking, like he didn't have a care in the world. His hair fell into his face, and Anna couldn't help but think 'He looks cute, but he _really _needs a haircut.'

This had happened before. The two were that close that they had slept in the same bed without anything being awkward between them. But this time it felt slightly different. It felt just so…natural, to be in his arms.

She had thought about being with him in the past, but she always dismissed the idea, whether it was her kids, job, or the fact that she didn't want to get hurt. But she had no clue why she thought that. She knew he would never hurt her. He had been the one with her throughout some very painful times in her past.

Those memories pained her endlessly, even years later. She closes her eyes to give rid of them. She was not going to think of that. Not right now.

She makes to slyly sneak out of his arms and out of the tent so she could go wake up Aria and Scarlett, but failed in doing so, only resulting in her being pulled closer to him, his grasp tightening. She chuckles slightly at this, but realizes she really needed to get up and wake up the girls. She had to wake him up.

"Daryl," she says, shaking his shoulder gently. "Daryl, wake up." He grumbles in his sleep. She chuckles again. "Daryl," she whines slightly.

"Five more minutes," he groans. 'God, like a fucking high schooler,' she thinks, rolling her eyes.

"Daryl, I have to wake Aria and Scarlett up."

"Then go do it," he says back. She raises an eyebrow, obviously realizing he doesn't even know he had his arms around her.

"I would, but the fact that your arms are wrapped tightly around me is preventing myself from doing just that." Instantly his eyes snap open and looks down. She chuckles as he actually blushes and removes his arms.

"Sorry," he mumbles. She smiles.

"Yet again, it's fine. Just lighten up on the grip a bit, Casanova." She gets up from the bed, snickering as she sees the piercing glare sent her way. He hated that name. Good. Payback for calling her princess. She walks out of the tent and to the one about ten feet away.

While looking up at the sky, she could tell it was around eight AM. She smiles. No wonder she felt refreshed. She has woken up a little later.

Unzipping the tent, she steps inside to find Scarlett asleep, all arms and legs on the bed, her breathing nice and soft, while Aria had all her body parts spread out in different directions, and from what Anna could see, she had a bit of drool streaming down her mouth.

She chuckles at the two polar opposites. Walking over to Scarlett, she gently shakes her awake. "Scarlett, baby, it's time to wake up, ok?" Her eyes open and she yawns sleepily at her mother.

"Ok, mommy," she replies, rubbing her eyes. Anna smiles at her and walks over to the older of the girls. She touches her shoulder, trying to wake her up, knowing she'd be a bit more of a handful.

"Ari, wake up. It's time to get up," she says. Aria groans.

"Five more minutes." Anna chuckles. 'She and Daryl are so alike in so many ways.'

"Aria, you have to get up," Anna persists.

"Why?" she replies, her head going deeper into her pillow. Anna thinks for a second, and an idea popped into her head.

"Because Daryl's taking us back to his group." Her head popped up and she was awake, a huge smile on her face.

"Really?!" she asks excitedly. Scarlett comes running over, hearing what her mother just said.

"Really, mama?" Anna smiles at her daughters.

"Yes he is. But only if you get ready."

"On it!" Aria says, jumping out of bed and pulling Scarlett over to their bags. Anna smiles and gets out of the tent, zipping up for the girls privacy. When she turns back, Daryl is outside the tent with his crossbow, staring at Anna. She smiles at him.

"What?"

"Those girls are so much like ya," he chuckles. "I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing." She laughs.

"They're like you, too. Aria literally just said 'Five more minutes,' as well. Then again, you were always around when she was a kid. Which I still can't thank you enough for."

"Anna, we're not getting into this now," he says sternly. Anna laughs, nodding, putting her hands up in surrender.

"Ok, I won't say anything. Now, we're heading back to your group. So when the girls are ready and everything we go? Wait…did you actually walk all the way out here or-"

"Take a car?" he finished. "Car, but that's about a mile out, so that's gonna be a jog. Hope ya and your batch full of princess' can handle it," he teases. She sneers at him.

"We'll be fine. And stop calling me that!" she yells, causing him to laugh.

The girls had made the mile back the car, but when they actually arrived. The two girls were _exhausted. _"Why'd you have to park so far away, Daryl?" Aria whines, leaning against ehs die of the car. "You couldn't park it a little closer?" she says, taking her index finger and thumb, making a small space in between them.

"I can't just drive my car through the forest without crashing into trees," he chuckles. "Besides, we're still alive. I warned your mama that it wouldn't be fun." Anna glares at him from where she was helping Scarlett with her shoes, whose shoelaces kept coming untied.

"You didn't tell me that there were a ton of hills and cliffs!" She looks back at Scarlett. "You shoud have least told me that."

"I thought ya knew," he says, shrugging his shoulders. She rolls her eyes and picks up Scarlett, placing her in one of the seats in the back.

"Never just assume. And I'm pretty sure you're the person who told me that." She closes the door and steps into the passenger seat. "You should take your own advice."

"I agree with my mother," Aria says from the backseat, buckling up her seatbelt.

"At least ya gained a bit of muscle in those scrawny legs of yours from hiking up the hills." Her eyes narrow, a sly smirk on her face.

"Yeah? Drive. Before I smack you." He snickers quietly, turning the key, starting the car, and placing it in drive.

Sooner or later, they were on the road and on the way to the prison. Aria and Scarlett were unusually quiet, which kind of made Anna nervous. They always talked during car rides.

Fifteen minutes in, Anna looks into the backseat and smiles. Both of the girls had fallen asleep again, Scarlett's head leaning slightly on Aria's shoulder.

"Oh, I wish I had a camera right now," she snickers, leaning back in her seat. She's silent for a moment before speaking up again, something that was on her mind. "Daryl, do you really think the group will take us in?"

"If they even think about saying no, I'll have a nice long chat with them," he replies. "You'll be fine, Anna. And if they don't accept you, for whatever strange reason, they'll be losin' me too." Her brow furrows.

"You've been with these people for a year. You would easily walk away that quickly?"

"I've known ya for twenty. Ya beat them." She chuckles slightly. "These people have been through a lot with me, but there's no way I'm lettin' ya go back out into this world with just the kids. Not alone." She smiles for a second, looking out the window.

"You're amazing, you know that?" she says. Out of the corner of her eyes, she sees him nod.

"Yeah, we've addressed this _plenty_ of times." She scoffs, shaking her head.

"I take it back now," she laughs.

Sooner or later, the car pulled up to the gates of the prison, and Anna was automatically nervous. She had seen it from some distance, but never this close. And from what Daryl told her, she was also afraid of these people slightly.

When the gates open, she keeps her head down, trying not to attract attention, at least not immediately. Daryl turns to her. "Don't say anything, just let me do the talkin'"

"I was already intending on doing that," she mumbles, turning around to the backseat. "Guys we're here. Wake up!" Aria shoots up, waking Scarlett in the process. Both glance outside.

"Damn, this place is huge!" Aria says, glancing at the huge building. "I've never seen it up close before!"

Annabelle smiles and steps out of the car, heading to Scarlett's door, but was automatically met with a young man pointing a shotgun at her face. She freezes in her actions. Daryl see's this and comes to her rescue.

"Put the gun down, Glenn. She's harmless." The man was reluctant, but he lowered the gun, and Anna let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding.

"Mom, are you ok?" Aria asks, coming to her side, who had seen the whole ordeal. She nods.

"I'm fine, Ari." Anna opens the door and takes Scarlett in her arms, getting her out of the car, who was a little weepy and seeing her mommy threatened. "I'm fine, sweetie. Nothing's hurt."

She sees two people coming down the way to where the car was to talk to Daryl. 'Let him do the talking,' she reminded herself.

"Who the hell is this?" a woman with short graying hair asks Daryl. The other person with her, a man, places a hand in front of her to stop her from going off. He looks at Daryl.

"We've already taken in so many people, Daryl. I don't think-"

"We're not lettin' her go, Rick." 'So this is Rick,' Anna thought. Said man looks at her, and then notices the two kids next to her, first the teenager, then the six year old.

"Those her kids?" he asks. Daryl nods. "Do you know her?" Rick asks. He nods again, but this time with a small, _very small_, half smile on his face. "Who is she?"

"An old friend." Anna smiles at him, but the gray haired woman steps up.

"Daryl, she could be working for the Governor-"

"She doesn't even know who that bastard is," he interrupts. "And don't say she could be lying. I've known her for twenty years. I can tell when she's lying or not." The woman's eyes seemed to widen slightly when he mentioned that he knew her for that long.

"It's true," Anna says from behind, attracting the attention of the two. "He's caught me in plenty of lies before." Rick's silent for a minute, considering her. He speaks up again.

"She can stay, but you're deciding where exactly. What's her name?" Anna smiles. 'Thank God,' she thinks.

"Annabelle."

"And the kids?"

"The older one is Aria, younger is Scarlett." Rick nods, and the stern look on his face is replaced by one of welcome, while the gray haired lady looks down, annoyed that they were letting her in.

"Welcome to the prison."

**WHOA THAT TOOK ME LONGER THEN EXPECTED! XD I did not think it would take that much time. Then again, the first two chapters I was up until one am in the morning to write, so I figured I could use some sleep. XD But Anna and the kids are at the prison now! I'm excited to work her storyline into the people at the prison. I have an interesting one for her and **_**Carol**_** (even saying her name makes me cringe) **

**But I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you didn't, sorry, half the time I was close to falling asleep. XD And walking dead comes back in less than a month! ^-^ WHO'S EXCITED? THIS GIRL! Review!**


	4. Settling

**Chapter 4**

"_Are ya sure ya want to go this party tonight, Anna?" Daryl asks one night. Anna rolls her eyes, straightening out her shirt. _

"_It's a 'Jack Nick party', and I was invited. It'll probably be the only one I am ever invited to. So let me have a night. I'm 15 now, not 10."_

"_Yeah, but that's the point, Anna," he says, getting up from the chair he was sitting in. "Jack Nick doesn't just invite 15 years old to his parties. There's usually some sort of bad catch that has to happen. And he's not really a good guy to be around, let alone go to a party of his."_

"_And people say the same thing about you, but I'm still friends with you." She turns to him. "I'll be fine, Daryl. Plus, I'll be with Lily and everyone else. If you're not near me, they are. They're always around me. They're like my bodyguards half the time." He looks down. She could tell he was nervous. "Daryl," she says sternly. "What are you so afraid of?"_

"_That something bad is going to happen to ya," he finally says. "This kid is INSANE when it comes to parties! He throws them at barns so more than 100 people can come! And this happens every weekend! People have gotten drunk and killed people because of him and all his drunks. I don't want anything like that to happen to yq." He comes closer to her. "I don't want ya killed because of some stupid hick who doesn't know how to handle his drinks." She sighs. _

"_I didn't know you felt like that," she mumbles. He chuckles._

"_Why wouldn't I? You're always gettin' into trouble, Anna." She scoffs._

"_That's cause half the time you're the one always getting me into it!" she yells, throwing her arms up. He smiles at her reaction. "You're lucky my parents even know I'm friends with you."_

"_Yeah, but it's not like when I get ya into trouble I mean to."_

"_Yet again, half the time you do-"_

"_Anna, you're missing the whole point of this conversation!" She snickers, putting on her sneakers. When she's done tying, she walks over to him and grabs his hand, surprising him._

"_I know you care about me. You've made that known since you beat up that guy in sixth grade for calling me fat and a slut." He frowns at the memory, making her smile. "But I can't promise that I'll always be out of trouble. Life's about making mistakes. So if this is one, for some strange reason, I'll learn from it. So let me be. You're my best friend, and best friends want good things to happen to their other best friends," she says, mumbling that last part._

"_This party isn't a good thing."_

"_It's still a thing. Please, Daryl?" she says, sticking out her bottom lip. He shakes his head, sighing. _

"_I can't believe I'm saying this…fine, I'll let you go," She smiles, hugging him, surprising him yet again._

"_Thank you!" He's hesitant for a second before returning the hug, placing his arms around her waist, holding her close. 'I have such a bad feeling about this,' he thinks. _

_When he pulls back, she walks over to the mirror, placing her denim jacket over her white tank top, examining her reflection in the glass. She turns back to him. "How do I look?" she asks. He smirks, about to reply, but a honk from downstairs stops him is his tracks to reply._

"_Let's go, Bella!" she hears Joey scream from the car. She laughs and runs out of her room, down the stairs to the front door, Daryl right behind her. She grabs her bag and see Joeys car, parking in the drive way, with Lily anf the others. Joey see's Daryl. "Why aren't you comin', Dixon?" _

"_Not really a party person," he replies, a little too snarky back at Joey. He turns to Anna, who raises an eyebrow. "That guy is trouble, too." She chuckles._

"_You're so kind," she says sarcastically. "I'm heading out. My parents aren't going to be home this weekend so if you want to stay-"_

"_Nah, I'll be headin' home." She looks at him with worried eyes. "I'll be fine, Anna. Ya go have fun," he smiles at her. She sighs._

"_Just be safe."_

"_I should be saying that to ya." She rolls her eyes and steps out the door on her way to the car when his voice stops her. "Hey!" She turns around._

"_What, Daryl?" He's silent for a second before replying._

"_Ya look great." She could tell he was slightly embarrassed to say that. She smiles at him._

"_Thanks, Daryl. That means a lot. I'll call you later, k? Bye!" Before he could reply, she was in the car, on her way to the party. _

"_Are you and him, like, together?" Lily asks. Anna smiles._

"_No, we're not, he's just a close friend." Lily raises an eyebrow but lets the topic go. Right now was a time to party._

_The party was in full rage, and Anna and Lily were dancing like there was no tomorrow. The rest of the group was scattered throughout the barn. Anna had caught Joey making out with a random girl behind the barn and let him be, knowing full well not to get involved when he's with a girl._

"_Hey, I'm heading to the bar. Want another beer?" Lily asks through the music. Anna shrugs._

"_Sure. I've only had one." Lily nods and disappears through the chaos of party goers, leaving Anna alone. She steps out for a moment to take a breath, but stops when a hand on her shoulder stops her. She spins around and gasps. Jack Nick was right behind her, a grin on his face, a beer in his hand._

"_Hey, freshie," he says. "Want a beer?" he says. She's hesitant._

"_My friends getting me one so-"_

"_Aw, come on. Have a sip." She stares at it, biting her lip, before taking the beer and sipping it slightly. He smiles wider. "There you go…wanna dance?" She can hear the drunk in his tone, but nods, letting him take her away._

_They danced against each other and smiled and talked. And they don't know whether it was her or Jack but soon their lips collided, and it was a battle for dominance. It was probably the fact that Jack was drunk out of his mind and saw a girl with a nice butt in shorts._

_Her legs wrap around him and he takes her out of the barn, to the back. He places her up against the red wall, starting to kiss her neck. She felt like she was in heaven. To think, she might actually go into high school having a boyfriend._

_But then his hands moved towards her shorts and under them starting to try and take them off. She places his hands back up near her waist, but he simply places them back down._

"_Stop," she whines through his sloppy kisses. _

"_Shut up," he growls. Ok, now she was scared. She starts to push him away, but he was just too strong for her, and keeps her hands pinned against the barn._

"_Jack-" SLAP. Her cheek turned red and she saw stars as he started to rip open her shirt. _

"_I said SHUT UP. You're not ruining this for me." His grimy hands travel all over her body, making her squirm in displeasure._

"_Get off me!" she yells, trying to get someone's attention. He replies by banging her whole body, head first against the side of that barn. The last thing she remembered was him taking off her shorts before she passed out into the darkness._

_Anna's eyes opened to her on the cold, hard, ground, the grass swaying in the wind. She could still hear the party going on in the barn, the music blasting from the boombox that Lily had brought. Laughing and talking were heard from all points of the area. _

_She leans up against the barn, and thinks that maybe the worst didn't happen, but that's when she felt it. The pain between her legs. _

_She brings her knees up to her face and cries. Starts to sob. No one can hear her. No one helped her. No one hear her screaming. _

_She had been raped._

_Knocked out, and raped. _

_By Jack Nick._

_She sobs harder. She couldn't believe she had lost is. She couldn't believe this had happened. She should have never come. She should have listened to Daryl._

_She should have listened to Daryl._

_What if she's pregnant?_

_Her knees slump against the grass, her head on the back of the barn. She looks down and see's that her shirt is ripped, her jacket was off, and her shorts were all the way down her legs. Painfully, she stands up and pulls them back around her waist, noticing the bruises all over them. Her jacket was thrown to the side._

_She places it around her shoulders, trying to hid the ripped part of her shirt. She looks around for the bag she brought and found it thrown to side, just as her jacket had been. She reaches for it and starts to walk towards the front of the barn, glancing back at the dancers. She saw Lily dancing with all her friends. She breathes in and out, and walks forward, near the highway where she had come._

_All of a sudden, she hears that slimy voice and turns around. She see's Jack with ANOTHER girl, taking her behind the barn. She was giggling, just as she had been. Maybe she wanted to be touched. _

_She had a knife in her bag. She could grab it and throw it into his head, run away, and end his life right there and then. She could just simply do it. She was sneaky. Daryl taught her that._

'_No,' she thought. That simple word no. She walks along the highway, ignoring the looks she was getting from the others._

_The wind blows against her face, sending her dark brown curls behind her, flying. Cars pass her by as if she was just a hobo walking along the road to find a place to sleep for the night. None of them knew what had happened. _

_She limps slowly around the block. Slowly and surly. She didn't even know how long she was on the road for, but when she saw her two story house that still had her bedroom light on, she walked just a little bit faster, some tears running down her face._

_Once she reaches the porch, she places her hand on the doorknob and takes a deep, shaky breath. Opening it, she throws her bag on the dining room table and limps towards the kitchen, getting a cold glass of water. When she drinks it, she looks down and notices the bruises on her legs and arms. _

_She places the glass of water down and takes of her jacket. Then, placing it on her mouth, she screams. Screams until her voice is hoarse. Her screams echoed the house, and if a window was open, the neighbors would probably have come over to see if she was being murdered._

_Then again, rape was just as bad._

_When she's done, she glances at the phone. She drops the jacket, running over to the machine on the wall. She takes it off the holder and hesitates calling him. He would freak. He would kill Jack…_

_She dials the phone. It rings for a moment, and then she hears it pick up. She takes a deep breath. "Daryl," she starts. "I need you to come over. Now." He hears the shakyness in her voice._

"_What happened?" She takes a shaky breath, and talks again._

"_I was raped."_

**Present**

Annabelle placed her bag on the prison cot, examining the cell that Daryl had put her in. Sitting down, she takes out her knives and lays them down, taking out the wipe she had gotten a few days prior. She starts to clean them up when a shadow in her doorway stops her. She looks up and see's Rick with Glenn, the young Asian man, and a younger looking girl, who had short brown hair.

"We just wanted to say that we're sorry for being a bit hostile before," Rick says. Glenn nods in agreement.

"The gun was uncalled for if you came back with Daryl-" Anna holds up a hand.

"I understand. You people have been through a lot. I know how it feels when you don't feel like you can trust them. I'm just happy you accepted me into the prison." Rick smiles at her.

"Thank you, Annabelle." She rolls her eyes.

"Call me Anna." He nods.

"Well, Anna," the brunette says. "Might as well introduce myself. I'm Maggie," she says, extended her hand. Anna smiles, taking it.

"Anna," she laughs. She notices the ring on her finger. "Oh, who's the lucky man?" Glenn raises his hand sheepishly. Anna laughs. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," they say, his arms going around her waist.

"So have you and Daryl really been friends for twenty years?" Rick asks. She nods, a grin on her face,

"Since 4th grade. He's been with me through a lot. And it's true. He has caught me in plenty of lies so many time that it's become a hobby." All of them chuckle slightly.

"Well, the rest of the group would like to meet you. They're all downstairs in the cellblock," Rick says. Anna nods, heading back over to her bed.

"I'll be down in a minute, just got to finish unpacking all this stuff. Thanks again, guys," she says.

"No problem," Rick says, walking back out to the rest of the group. Glenn sticks his head in quickly.

"Just out of curiosity, do you hunt just like Daryl?" Anna grins again.

"Taught me how." Maggie groans.

"Damn it!" she yells, walking out of the cell. Glenn laughs.

"You just helped me win a bet. Thanks, Anna!" he says, chasing after her. She stares after them, amusement coming across her face.

"You're welcome?" she laughs. She walks back over to her bed and places her journal that she's had since freshman year on the small desk. She sighs. That has been with her through hell and back. She could never throw it out if she tried.

Her knives shone on the bed and she picked all of them, placing them on the desk next to the journal. Her eyes travel around the small room, then the cell door. She never thought she would be in a prison, even after how she got into a lot of trouble as a kid. But here she was.

Grant it, it was a different circumstance. She never thought the dead would rise and try to eat her, but here they were. Never say never.

"What's chinaman laughin' at?" Daryl asks from the doorway. She turns to him and smiles again.

"Apparently I helped him win a bet with Maggie, so I guess that's why." He walks over to her, placing his hands on the edge of the desk. He see's the journal and scoffs, picking it up.

"Ya still have this old piece of crap?" he says. She gasps, trying to get the journal from his hands.

"Give it back, Daryl!" she yells, reaching for it. He only raises his arm higher, laughing as she tries to reach it.

"Let's see what ya wrote in here," he says, opening the book slightly.

"No!" she squeaks, jumping now to get it. "Why is he so god damn tall?!' she thinks angrily. He keep laughing.

"Oh, let's turn back to high school, shall we?" he says. Her eyes widen and she thought of something quick. Leaning up, she pecks his cheek, causing his eyes to widen slightly and drop the book. She quickly grabs it and sticks her tongue out.

"Ha!" she yells, hiding it behind her back. "I'm hiding this where you can't ever find this!" He raises an eyebrow.

"I know every nook and crany of this whole entire damn place. Ya can't hide anything from me." She scoffs, then smirks a little.

"You'd be surprised at how well I can hide things, even if people know the area. I'm a sneaky bitch." He snorts, shaking his head.

"Ya are, are ya?" he asks, coming closer to her.

"Yeah, and I learned from a sneaky bastard, who was always hiding my textbook when I needed it for History class," she says, poking him in the chest.

"Who, me?" he asks in mock surprise. She snorts.

"Yeah, you. And I've outsmarted you many times. What makes you think I can't do it again, Dixon?" He smirks down at her 5'7 frame, only a few inches shorter than him, but couldn't admit she was right. She had outsmarted him. She was brilliant like that.

She stares right back, not cowering. This was something they always did. When the first person looked away, they lost and the winner had the right to call them whatever they wanted for the rest of the day. Both had won, but it was always intense.

But during this match, a sudden change in demeanor swept the room, and it didn't feel like a game anymore. It just felt like two people staring into each other's eyes. The smirk on his face had turned into a small smile, and she couldn't help but think how he had an amazing smile. 'He should show it so much more often around these people.'

Her heart felt like it was racing a hundred miles per second, like it was about to jump out of her chest. But she still wouldn't look away. All of a sudden, his hand comes up and tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear, one she hadn't even noticed. She smiles at the gesture, but still wouldn't look away.

"Anna," he huskily whispers. She felt like she couldn't breath.

"Yeah?" she whispers back.

"I-" A sudden bang on the cell door made the two break apart from their intense trance and look towards the door, only to see the gray haired woman from before. 'Who the hell is this chick?' Anna thinks angrily.

"I…um… Daryl, Rick needs to talk to you about a supply run right now." Daryl's silent, and Anna could tell he was slightly pissed that she ruined the moment, but he gives a curt nod and walks out of the cell, his hand brushing Anna's on the way out. He pushes past Carol, who stares at him in slight shock.

She looks back to Anna, who's hands are now crossed over her chest, glaring at the floor. "I'm sorry if I interrupted something," she says, but Anna could so tell she wasn't.

'Bitch,' she thinks. "It's fine," she says, playing it like it was nothing.

"I'm Carol, by the way." Anna nods.

"Annabelle," she replies, making sure that her name was dragged out. "Oh, wait. You're the one who tried to kick me out before." She glares at Anna.

"I was thinking about the rest of the group-"

"No, you were thinking about Daryl." She stops talking, but the glare is still set on her face. "I can see it in your eyes that you like him. What makes you think, that a girl, he has known, for TWENTY, YEARS, would be a threat to him?"

"Listen-"

"No, you listen," she says, stepping closer. "I don't know who you are yet. I've only just met you. But considering what you did back outside, your introduction is not up to a good start. I suggest, if you really want to make friends, to stop thinking about just one person and think for the whole group." Anna walks out of her cell and hears her daughter's laughing down below with the other kids. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go join my _family_ and meet the rest of the group. Have a nice day."

She walks down the stairs and smirks the whole way down, feeling Carol's piercing glare on her back. 'Serves her right.'

**So happy I got that done. I was writing this while watching the Golden Globes and couldn't help but think that if Breaking Bad is winning all these awards then Walking Dead better at least one day. The mid season finale by itself deserves plenty of awards. So I decided to include a little moment (or a big moment) between Anna and Daryl between this chapter, cause in my mind they are so adorable together, only for it to be ruined by everyones favorite stalker, Carol. XD Oh, this bitch.**

**But in any way, shape, or form, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to update within the next few days. But midterms are coming up so I'm gonna be studying sooner or later. But don't worry. I wont keep you waiting for long. I already have story ideas going around my head. See ya next chapter!**


	5. Morning Chats

**Just a quick side note: This memory in this chapter is a continuation of the one from chapter 4. If you haven't read that memory you should read it. On with the story!**

**Chapter 5**

_He lived twenty minutes away. Away from her. When she was done talking to him, she placed the phone back in the holster, taking another shaky breath, and slowly climbs hers stairs to the bathroom._

_At first, he sounded shocked, but then she could practically feel the anger vibrating off his body through the phone. He was __**mad**__._

_She had jokingly told him not to get into a car crash. He often did stupid things when he was angry. Her pillow had been a victim of one of this anger fits once, but she had easily fixed it with her mother's help and her trusty glue gun. _

_Since she had a bit of time before he came, she takes off her clothes, turns on the faucet, and steps under, letting the warm water cascade down her body, stinging the cuts and washing away all the dirt and grass stains from her arms, legs, and face._

_She felt like she was going to throw up. How would she tell her family? How would she tell her mother?! She wasn't even supposed to be out that night. What about her friends? What about SCHOOL?_

_School. Jack was a senior._

_No way. _

_No way in hell was she going to the same school Jack was._

_Even if Daryl would be there, she did not want to be in the same building as him ever again. He was a monster and a total dick._

_What if she's pregnant?_

_That thought made tears run down her face, even though they blended it with the water. What if there was an actual child growing slowly inside of her right now._

_She was only 15._

_She just turned 15!_

_How would she take care of a kid? There was no way in hell she was giving rid of it if she is. She doesn't just kill something, not even an unborn fetus. But what would she do? _

_The thought that the kid was also partially Jacks made her stomach churn. It disgusted her. 'No,' she thinks angrily. 'He'll never be a part of it's life. The snivey, conniving, pig!' She punches the wall in frustration, a resounding 'boom' echoing the bathroom. When she pulls back, she is surprised to see a hole, the size of her fist, in the granite wall. "Aw, shit," she mumbles._

_Turning off the water, she steps out and places a towel around her waist, her bruised hips making her flinch back as the towel touched them. She examines the hole and cringes when she sees her hand. Bloody and cut. "I can't get a break, can I?"_

_She walks over to her bedroom and quickly changes into some PJ pants and a big t-shirt. She looks down at her bloody fingers and sighs, going down the stairs. _

_She turns on the box and finds SNL blasting on the TV, but not even these people could make her laugh right now. Not even smile. Not even crack a tooth._

_Looking over at her fridge, she remembers exactly what her parents had bought the day prior. She was always trying to watch her weight, trying to look her best. But right now, that didn't apply. "Fuck it." She rips open the freezer and takes out a huge carton of chocolate chunk ice cream. Taking a spoon, she flops down on the couch and washed SNL while eating away her troubles. _

_She loved chocolate chip cookies. _

_She smiles at the sincere thought of her mother picking up the ice cream just for her. She really needed it right now. _

_Sooner or later, her dog comes up to her side, her tail wagging fast. Anna pets the dog on her head, but shakes hers. "No playtime right now, Lani"_

_The dog continues to wag her tail._

"_Really, Lani?" Anna sighs. The dog props her soft paws on her legs and licks her face. Anna smiles, pushing the dog down. "Ok, Ok. Calm down, Lani."_

_The dog picks up her bone and runs towards Anna, who takes it from her and throws it in the opposite direction of the room. The pup runs after, barking wildly, as Anna snickers slightly, going back to her ice cream._

_Once she finishes the ice cream, she gets up to turn off the TV, but finally hears a knock at the front door. Dropping her carton, she runs to the door, Lani right behind her. But when she opens it, it's not Daryl. It's Jack. With two of his 'buddies' behind him. She steps back slightly. At seeing her owner scared, the dog growls at the three men, but they just ignore it._

"_Why'd you leave early, freshie?" He hisses. Her eyes widen._

"_How did you-nevermind. Get out." He laughs evilly._

"_Ha, no." He comes closer. "You see, the rest of us want a little more __**fun**__ with you. Let's see what you can do….and this time be cooperative so I don't need to knock your ass out again," he growls, stepping closer._

_Anna steps back, afraid to even say anything, but when her dog runs forward and bites Jack's leg, hard, causing him to yelp in pain, she grabs her moment and makes her escape to the kitchen, but the men were right on her. _

_She runs to the kitchen and grabs her knife, but just as she does that, Jack and his buddies grab her from behind, bringing her back to where they were. She squirms, a new determination in her eyes._

"_**NOT AGAIN!" **__she yells, slicing her knife on Jacks hands, sending him back in pain. She kicks one of the men in the crotch, causing him to fall to the floor in pain, and she kicks him in the head, all while ducking the other two men who tried to catch her, who collided heads. She waves her leg and the other man falls to the ground, her fist making contact with his face, a resounding 'crack' sound coming from his nose. She turns around, knife in hand, and pins Jack against the wall knife held to his throat. _

_Where this sudden burst of strength came from she had no clue. All she knew was that holding that knife to his skin, and seeing the look of terror on his face, satisfied her, and she wanted to sink the cold metal deeper into his skin, but held back the urge, her eyes narrow and terrifying. If this was a cartoon, they would be blood red._

"_Anna?" she hears from behind her. She turns to look and see's Daryl coming to her, meanwhile kicking the bodies in pain to the side to get to her. _

"_Daryl," she breaths, dropping Jack to the ground, him groaning in pain as he hit the hard wood. She glares at the pathetic excuse for a man on the ground, spitting on him. He flinches in response. "Get out!" She kicks him. "Get the fuck out!"_

_The three men painfully get up and scurry out, one resounding kick to Jacks ass as she leaves the house. She breathes deeply, looking down. _

"_Did ya really take on all those guys?" Daryl asks. She nods._

"_Yeah," she chokes out. "That was-"_

"_I know who it was," he said, interrupting her. "And trust me, I would have beaten ya to the job if I saw them first." She leans against the wall, and he comes closer to her, taking her cut hand in his, examining it. He looks up at her. "Did they really-"_

"_Yes," she cried, finally breaking down, staring down at the ground. He takes her in his arms and she wraps hers around him, crying into his shoulder. "I should have listened to you," she cries. "I'm so stupid!"_

"_I could have told ya that from the moment ya left the house," he murmurs into her hair. She chuckles slightly, but her grip only tightens more on his body. _

"_So stupid…" she repeated. He pulls back and wipes the tears from her face._

"_Hey, a girl like ya shouldn't be cryin'," he says, to which she smiles sadly._

"_Why not? I have every reason to cry and scream and ki-" He takes her shoulders and makes her look up at him._

"_Look here, ya said earlier everyone makes mistakes. Ya don't go through life just being perfect. This was a mistake, and boy was it a fucking doozy, but ya know that ya won't do it again. And those assholes know to never mess with ya again after what ya just did. Are ya a freaken assassin or some shit like that?" She lets out a ghost of a laugh._

"_Just practicing what you've told me." She pulls away and looks down. "But it's not ok!" Looking back up, he sees how red her eyes were and all the cuts and bruises on her body. "How do I tell me parents? How do I go to school knowing that that asshole is still going to be there for another year? Even if I did almost threaten his life he's still going to pin after me."_

"_Then don't go to school." She looks at him surprised._

"_Really? You're actually letting me stay out?" He chuckles. _

"_Only for a year. Once that asshole's gone, I'll drag yer ass back into the hell hole to suffer with trust me, even though I'm 'younger'" he says, placing air quotes around 'younger.' "I'm bigger then that dick, so I'll make sure he feels a lot of pain for what he did." She smiles slightly, but the frown comes back in place. He sighs, walking over to her. "What's the frown now?"_

"_What if I'm pregnant? As far as I know, he didn't use any protection. Then again, who does in rape?" she laughs bitterly. He thinks for a second. That thought hadn't crossed his mind. What if she was pregnant?_

"_Well," he starts, taking her hands again. "Ya definitely won't go to school until all this blows over, but you'll be safe here, and away from that asshole. And ya won't be alone." She smiles sadly yet again._

"_What? You'll be there throughout the whole entire nine months?" He looks at her with a confused look._

"_Why wouldn't I? Anna, I care about ya. If I didn't, I wouldn't have come all the way over here to clean ya up and comfort ya." A half smile crosses her face._

"_Yeah? And then you'll get sick of me after nine months and leave," she jokes. _

"_Ya couldn't push me away if ya tried, even though ya can be annoying at times." Her half smile turns into a smile, and he sincerely smiles back. He takes her bloody hand and looks at it again. "Now, how the hell did this happen?" _

"_Funny story," she snickers. "I kinda got frustrated and punched a wall. There's actually a hole in there right now, so…I kinda hurt my hand real bad and now it really hurts because you're touching it ow Daryl!" she says, pulling back and cradling it in her other hand. He chuckles._

"_I can't fix it if you're flinching around. Give it here." She gingerly places her hand in his and he runs it under warn water, causing her to curse out._

"_Fuck!" she yells. He chuckles at her reaction._

"_Didn't know ya had that sort of language in ya," he says, starting to wrap her hand up in one of the many bandages that her mother always kept around. She snorts._

"_Oh, you've known for a long time," she snickers. Once he's done wrapping her hand, he wets a cloth and starts to wipe some of the cuts on her face. Lani waddles up to him, her paws going on his leg. He looks down and pets her head._

"_Hey there, Lani," he chuckles. She barks in reply and Anna smiles._

"_She loves you, by the way." _

"_I think all you're animals do." She raises an eyebrow._

"_You're not cocky at all, are you?" she teases. He shakes his head, wiping some extra dirt off her face. She's silent for a minute, just staring at him work. 'He is so amazing,' she thinks. She looks down quickly and smiles slightly. "Hey, can we-"_

"_Friendly's?" he finishes for her. Her eyes light up, making him laugh. "Let's get going then," he chuckles, taking her un-damaged hand and pulling her outside. She smiles. He would always be there for her, and she didn't mind at all._

**Present **

The next morning, Anna woke up to a small voice and something pulling on her hand from right next to her. "Mama! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" the person whispers in her ear. Anna smiles at Scarlett and kiss her head.

"I'm up, I'm up. Where's your sister?" She points downstairs where she can clearly hear people talking, one of them being her daughter. Anna smiles. "Ok, now get out so I can change, ok?" Scarlett nods and runs out of the cell, leaving her mother to herself.

Anna takes off her crusty t-shirt and puts in a white tank top, but keeps on her pajama pants, throwing on her socks and heading down the stairs where the others were having breakfast.

There were a lot of people in the prison. Daryl had told her that a lot of them were from the town the Governor, Woodbury. She walks up to the two Greene's she met the other day, Hershel and Beth. The old man smiled warmly at her as did the younger daughter, who was cradling a young baby in her arms.

"Morning, Anna," he says, handing her a plate. She smiles at him. "How did you sleep last night?" She sighs in pleasure, making the two laugh.

"Better than I have in ages! It felt so good to not have the constant threat around me, you know? And the fact that I knew my kids would be safe definitely contributed to that."

"Are both those girls yours?" Beth asks. Anna nods, smiling at the two sisters who were sitting closer to each other.

"Yup. Born and raised." The younger girl smiles at her.

"They look so much like you," she coons. "Especially the little six year old." Anna laughs.

"I can tell you have a soft spot for kids. Who's is it?" she asks. She nods her head over towards Rick and her brow furrows. "Where's the-nevermind, I think I know." The old man smiles sadly at her.

"That was a hard time for all of us, but we've come some ways since then. All that matters is that we're still alive and breathing." Anna scoffs.

"Amen to that," she mumbles. "Thanks for the breakfast," she says, walking over to the rest of the group. What she didn't hear was Beth and her daddy's side conversation.

"Do you think Daryl likes her?" she whispers to her father. He chuckles.

"Plain as day."

Anna looks around and notices all the people around her. Maggie and Glenn were sitting together, and the sibling's, Tyreese and Sasha were sitting together as well. Michonne, the woman she had met the other day as well, or as she called her in her head 'the woman with the katana,' was talking to Rick in hushed tones, and Anna could tell they were planning something.

All the kids stood together in a spot. Rick's son, Carl, was near them, but he was actually not really talking to the other kids. He was talking her own daughter, Aria. And both seemed to be getting along just fine. Anna smiles.

Even though she didn't know the kid, she knew he had gone through a lot, and she could see that he was slightly hesitant to let anyone into his life. But when Aria talks to someone, she doesn't stop until she gets to the bottom of them. She was that pushy, but also that caring. She never let people push her away.

That's one of the many things she and her mother had in common. That and the fact they can also sing pretty well.

She saw Carol sitting down near Rick and could also feel her glare on her back as she turned away. She was not in the mood to deal with Ms. Bitchy-Pants.

The only people she didn't see were Scarlett and…Daryl.

When Scarlett was little, Daryl was around a lot. The only reason why Scarlett hadn't remembered who he was when he stepped out was because he was covered in dirt from head to toe. The two were close, and she knew Daryl, just like Beth, had a huge soft spot for kids.

Yet again one of the many things she loved about him.

She places her plate down and looks through the hallways, making sure not to attract the attention of anyone. She looks into the cells and sighs. Were they really playing the hide and seek game with her? She almost decides to head back when she hears a girly giggle.

Scarlett.

She follows the sound of the laughter and comes across the prison yard, where the sight she saw made her heart stop. There was Scarlett, running away from Daryl, who was chasing her around. She makes sure to stay behind so they don't see her, but she couldn't help but have the hugest smile on her face.

She sees him pick her up from behind, spinning her around, making her laugh. Anna had to try to contain hers so she wouldn't be seen.

She sees him start to tickle her as she laughs, and Anna sighs dreamily. 'So good with kids,' she groans inwardly. When he stops Scarlett is still in his arms.

"Daryl?" she asks. He adjusts her in his arms and smiles at her.

"What, princess?" he asks. She giggles slightly at the nickname, and Anna raises her eyebrow from behind. Of course a six year old would like that name. A girl, no less.

"Do you like mommy?" Anna's silent, listening very closely. He's silent for a second before replying.

"Yeah, I do. She's amazing." But the little girl presses on…just like her mom does.

"Yeah, I know that. But do you like-like her? Like…" She makes a kissy face and noises, which make the man laugh. Anna smiles.

"Are we back in school?" he asks her. Scarlett pouts.

"Answer the question!" she says. He chuckles again.

"Ok, ok." He's silent for a second. "But don't tell your mama, ok? Our little secret." Scarlett crosses her heart.

"Cross my heart and hope to die!" He raises an eyebrow.

"Don't hope to die, kid."

"Daryl!"

"Ok, ok! You're mama and I have been through a lot together. And when I mean a lot, I mean a lot. She's been with me since 4th grade, and that's a very long time between me and her. She's definitely a huge part of my life, and always will be. And I wish life could be a bit…easier. So, yeah, ya could say I like-like her." Scarlett smiles at him, while Anna has her hands covering her huge grin.

"Mama won't tell me who my daddy was," she suddenly says.

"She never wants to talk about that," Daryl mumbles. Anna holds in her groan. She had always wanted to talk to Scarlett, but something was always in the way. Plus, she was WAY too young for her to know how she was conceived. It was just too painful memories for her. The only good time during that was Daryl and Aria.

Well, and the fact she would have another daughter.

"But, I don't care anymore!" she says. Anna raises an eyebrow.

"And why is that?" he chuckles.

"Because he's not here taking care of me, mommy, and Ari. Family stays together, and if he's not here, he's not family." Daryl smiles at the small girl. She was right…for a six year old. "Plus, I like you more," she says. "You're more fun than Ari." He laughs loudly at that.

"And what about mommy?" She tilts her head.

"You're just as good as her." He shakes his head, placing her back down on the ground.

"Come on, kid. Let's eat some breakfast." She takes his hand and he snickers, bringing her back into the prison, while Anna hides while they pass.

When she see's that there gone, she laughs into her arm. She couldn't believe what she just heard. She walks back the way she came and makes sure Daryl isn't looking her way when she comes around the same corner her came from.

She makes herself present by grabbing the plate she put down and walking over to Daryl, who immediately saw her PJ pants, knowing it was her. Scarlett smiles at her mom but goes back to eating her breakfast, talking with some of the other little kids there.

"Mornin'" He says, placing an arm around her shoulders. Anna smiles at him and raises an eyebrow. "What're ya smilin' at?" he chuckles. Her sight catches Carol's jealous glance in her direction. She only smiles more.

"Oh, nothing."

**I GOT ANOTHER CHAPTER UP! YEAH! I FEEL SO ACCOMPLISHED! So I decided to include a little interaction between Anna and the group this chapter, because what I mostly wrote today and focused on was the memory. Literally, I spent the whole day at school sneaking in time to write in my notebook. I'll update soon enough! Midterms are in two weeks, by the way, so hopefully I wont be really occupied until mid next week. Hope you enjoyed! Review!**


	6. Tomatoes

**Chapter 6**

_The sound of a phone ringing woke Anna out of her slumber early one morning. She rubs her eyes as the phone continues to ring, loud and clear through the room. She was surprised the three year old girl in the room didn't wake up from the sound. Glaring at the small device, she sighs, picking it up, knowing exactly who it was calling, at least at this hour._

"_Daryl, it's the first day of break and you call me at nine am in the morning?" she whines into the phone, but also staying quiet enough for the girl to stay asleep. She hears him snicker._

"_It's not that bad. Not like its six am in the morning." She scoffs, shaking her head._

"_It's still early on a day we have off, especially when said morning is that girl's birthday." Yet again, another snicker, making her roll her eyes._

"_That's why I was callin'. Wanted to ask what ya were doing today." She shrugs, glancing over at the sleeping girl, breathing slowly, in and out._

"_I dunno. When I was younger, I always pictured myself having a huge party, lots of gifts, and lots of friends, but everything's changed. I have a kid now to take care of, who's now three, Jesus,' she chuckles, smiling a bit._

"_How is she?" he asks. "That cold gone yet?"_

"_Thank God it is!" Anna sighs. "She's better. Tired, but better. Thanks to that medicine you gave her. Boy did that do the trick."_

"_Knocked the cold right outta her, right?" She grins._

"_Out of the park." She sighs again. "I feel like I never get her out, you know? Whether it was school or work, I've never brought her to a park or anything. Thank God I finally have some time off. I mean, it's senior year now, but I seriously need to take more time off. I feel so bad that my momma has to take care of her when I'm at practice."_

"_Speaking of yer ma, what did your parents have to do that made them leave ya home alone with Ari?" She smiles as he uses the girl's nickname Anna uses. _

"_Some conference in Orlando, so they're far away from me. Maybe they'll call later. So I guess it's just me and Ari today, which isn't bad."_

"_And that's where you're wrong." Her brow furrows._

"_What do you mean?" He chuckles again. _

"_Window," he says. She places the telephone down and looks out the giant piece of glass peering out into the front of her house, a smile spreading on her face. And it spread even more. There was Daryl, leaning against his truck, the cell phone she had gotten him a few weeks ago in his hand._

_She smiles and runs down the stairs to the door. Practically pulling it open, she runs outside and right into him, her arms going around his body. He returns the gesture, placing his arms around her waist, chuckling at her reaction._

_When she pulls back, her grin is still in place. "I thought you seas you were going hunting with Merle today!" she says, laughing. He snorts._

"_And leave ya alone with just Aria for company? What kind of friend would I be? The girl is cute, but not for a while day." She laughs._

"_Then happy birthday to me, I guess," she chuckles. About to say something else, she starts but is interrupted by a small voice coming from the porch._

"_Mama?" Anna spins around and see's her three year old rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, her brown hair hanging loosely by her sides and in front of her face, pointing in all different directions. She sees the man next to her mama and a cheeky smile develops on her face. "Daryl?" _

"_Hey, kid," he says. She runs towards him and he takes her up in his arms, making her laugh._

"_Mama getting old today," she says, bopping Anna on the nose, making her mother laugh._

"_I know. Sooner or later she's gonna start gettin' wrinkles under her eyes," he taunts. She raises an eyebrow, a sly smile crossing her face._

"_I hope not," she chuckles. "I'd rather stay young, thank you. I'm only turning 18." _

"_Yeah, you're an adult now, which means you're getting older," he taunts again. "The white hair will start coming in soon enough, Ari. Ya just wait," he says, whispering the last part to the small girl, making the child laugh._

"_Mama getting white hair!" she laughs. Anna glares playfully at Daryl._

"_You're turning my child against me!" she chuckles, shaking her head. _

"_No I'm not, I'm just telling her how yer-"_

"_Daryl!" she yells, laughing, which causes him to snicker as well. "You're making it worse, dang it!" _

"_Oh, at least ya watch the language around the kid, huh?" She rolls her eyes as he puts Aria back down on the ground, who stood in between them. _

"_Be quiet," she says. He smirks, nodding, but both knew it wasn't over._

"_But, I did come over for a reason other than to visit ya." He reaches into his pockets and fingers around for something, while Anna and Ari look at it, wondering what it was. After a moment, he pulls out three pieces of paper, and Aria automatically knows what it is._

"_Six Fwags!" she yells grabbing one of the tickets. Anna raises and eyebrow and takes one of the pieces of paper, examining it. Sure enough, it was a ticket to get into the Six Flags in Atlanta. She smiles at him for a moment._

"_What's this?" she chuckles. He shrugs his shoulder._

"_Ya always said how ya wanted to go there. Thought it'd be nice to bring ya and your daughter to." Aria jumps up and down._

"_Thwank you!" she yells, hugging his legs because she was so small. He chuckles and leans down, throwing an arm around her, returning the gesture, making Anna smile even more._

"_Welcome," he replies, but then pushes her forward to the house. "Now go get changed." She nods and runs off into the house. Anna pulls him back up, and his stupid grin is on his face. "What?" he chuckles. She waves the ticket in his face._

"_Really? These must have cost a fortune, Daryl! You didn't have to do that for me and especially not for Aria!" she chuckles. He waves his hand._

"_It's nothing, Anna." She scoffs._

"_Daryl-"_

"_Anna, I'm always the one helping ya with Ari. I care about ya and I care about that little girl just as much as ya do. And I remember she said ya wanted to go there but didn't have the time. I made the amount I needed and got the tickets. I wanted to give ya a little break from life and have some fun. So just shut up, and go get changed," he finishes, chuckling slightly at the end. She smiles, staring at the tickets for a second._

"_Why are you so good to me?" she asks sincerely, looking up. Amusement comes across his face._

"_You're my girl," he replies, placing an arm around her shoulder, and then rustling her hair slightly. She chuckles."Not to mention you've stuck with me since elementary school." She smiles at him again._

"_I'll always be your girl, no matter what. But seriously? Next time you need save the money for something. Don't spend it on me," she laughs. He rolls his eyes. _

"_Just go get change, woman," he says, pushing her near the door like he did to Ari. She laughs and goes into the house, smiling on the way up the stairs. Aria is at the top, trying to tie her shoe. _

"_Let me do it sweetie," she says, tying the lace in a pretty bow._

"_Daryl's taking us, mama!" she says. Anna smiles at her. _

"_I know sweetie. Now…what to do with your hair?"_

"_Heard ya came in contact with Jack the other day," Daryl grumbles to Anna as their watching Aria ride one of the kiddie coasters. A disgusted look comes across her face and she snorts, shaking her face._

"_Yeah, after three and a half years. I was with Aria too! Oh, I wish you were there! It would have been amazing if you saw what happened!" He raises an eyebrow, moving closer. She chuckles. "Want to hear?" _

"_Hell yeah," he says back. She laughs, settling down on the fence they were leaning against. _

"_Ok, so me and Aria were heading to the Macy's in the mall and we were looking for new clothes when I see Jack there looking at one of those horribly, overpriced, boxers or briefs things, and I laugh silently. At first, I was the one who stayed silent, but then he came over to me."_

"_He came over to ya?" he asks confused. She laughs, nodding her head. _

"_Exactly! That's what I was thinking! He didn't know who I was because I look so different from freshman year. So he walks up and is like 'I hope you know CPR, because you just took my breath away!'" Both burst out laughing, Anna leaning further against the fence._

"_That is the worst pickup line I have ever heard!" he chuckles, straightening himself out. She nods, agreeing. It really was._

"_I actually just raised my eyebrow and shook my head at him! That's when I said, 'Summer before freshman year, back of the barn.' And everything came back to him. Including me almost killing him. And when I said that, he said 'Freshie?' And I was like, 'Yeah, bitch.'_

"_Then he saw Aria, who was clinging onto her legs like a tiger ready to pounce. His eyes widen even more and said 'Is that my kid?' and I said. 'Bio? Yeah. In life? Get the hell out of here and drop down a hole into dog shit.' And I walked away afterwards, Aria right behind me. We went to JC PENNY that day instead." He snickers slightly. _

"_Ya said that in front of your daughter?" he asks. Her cheeks redden and she smiles sheeplishly._

"_Memories caught up," she mumbles. "And I just had to, you know? I couldn't just let him leave! I hate that guy. I mean, I have a daughter because of him, who I love very much, but I just wish I didn't conceive her so early and in such a painful way. I wanted to marry someone I love and have their children, not that sick fuck." _

"_I agree with that." They're both silent for a minute, enjoying the screams of the people on the rides, silently watching Aria. Anna speaks up._

"_You know, you're old enough now. 23. You're allowed to find someone." He's silent for a second before shaking his head. _

"_I'm not really the marriage type. Plus, no girl seems to really like me like that," he chuckles, rubbing the back of his head. Anna scoffs, shaking her head at him._

"_Are you kidding me? Girls are always knocking! I have girls come up to me and ask if I'm with you because we're together so often. Your should give them a chance or at least explore a little…with protection," she added quickly. He chuckles quietly._

"_With protection?" he mocks. She smacks his arm._

"_Shut up. Plus, you're AMAZING with kids. I don't know why you hide that so much! It's such an attractive quality that-"_

"_Oh, so ya think I'm attractive, huh?" he chuckles. Her face reddens ever more. She shakes her head, starting to ramble._

"_I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that a lot of girls find it good looking and you should show it more often and-"_

"_I get it, Anna," he snickers. She grins, looking down. "Just teasing ya." She's silent for a second before speaking, looking back up shyly._

"_You are good-looking, you know that, right?" she says, her face beet red. He looks down, smiling small. No one had told him that. Really, ever._

"_Mama! That was gweat!" Aria says, running over. Anna smiles and takes her daughters hand. _

"_I'm happy," she laughs. She looks back to Daryl. "Let's get some lunch, k?" He nods and they head off to the pavilion, while Aria tripped every once and a while to see the giant rollercoaster's that she was too short to go on. _

**Present**

Carl Grimes was attending to the garden they had started at the prison when Aria noticed he was struggling with something. Making sure not to step on any of the plants, she walks over to him and taps his shoulder. He looks up and squints through the sunlight bearing down on them.

" You need help, or something?" she asks. He doesn't say anything but nods, nodding over to the plant besides him, who had freshly grown tomatoes.

"Just pick those off the stem and place them in the basket." She nods and walks over to the vine, grabbing one of the tomatoes gently and places it in the basket, making sure not to dent them. The silence was killing her, so she started up a conversation.

"When did you find the prison?" she asks, placing another tomato in the basket. "It's a great place to stay." He shrugs.

"About two months ago. Been here since. Had a lot of trouble though with the Governor and all that." Aria nods, understanding.

"My mother told me about it last night." His eyes question hers. "Daryl told her." He nods.

"Daryl seems to be a big part of your family's life. Is he, like, the father of Scarlett or something?" Aria burst out laughing, shaking her head.

"No! No! He's just been with my mom through a lot and was around all the time when I was younger. I never had a dad, so he being in my life gave me a fatherly figure to look up too. I loved my mom, but when she wasn't around, he was awesome to be with. He was also a big part of Scarlett. The last time I had seen him before all this was when he had to leave NYC to come back down here, and that was when I was 12." He nods.

"NYC?" he asks. She nods.

"When my mom had to go there for college, he had a place up there so he could visit her and I. Mostly her though," she chuckles. "He cared about me, but he wanted to see her. When she moved up here, I could tell he was sad about it. They had been friends since 4th grade, so they were really close."

"And they're still not together?" he chuckles. She sighs.

"No," she laughs. "But my God did I want them to be. I still do. And it's so freaking obvious that they like each other except to EACH OTHER! It drives me crazy! Are they that oblivious?!" she yells, laughing to herself. Carl chuckles.

"Well, there's another woman here who likes Daryl," he says. Aria's brow furrows.

"Who?" she chuckles.

"Carol." She snorts.

"Bullshit. She doesn't stand a chance against my mom." She finishes placing the tomatoes in the basket. "No a chance. Even if they aren't together, mom get's pretty territorial. And I can tell from a mile away that Daryl is hers, even if she refuses to act on it." He chuckles, standing up and taking his basket up in his arms.

"You gonna do something about it?" She thinks for a second.

"Maybe, but I think I'll let what happens, happen. I push people, but when it comes to love, that's not in my department. I love 'em both, but not in my department." He nods back towards the prison, adjusting the basket.

"Let's head back, I'm sure they're waiting." They start to walk back when Aria speaks up.

"Carl?"

"Yeah?" he groans out, adjusting the basket again.

"Your little sister is adorable, by the way. Judith? I love that name. I had a friend named Judith, but people call her Judy." The boy looks down and smiles sadly.

"Judy?" She nods.

"Yeah. Does anyone call her that?" He looks back up, that same sad smile on his face.

"Nah," he says. She's silent for a second before turning back to him.

"You should call her Judy. It could be your special nickname for her." She walks forward to the kitchen while Carl smiles slightly at her. 'Judy…' he thought. He shrugs. 'Maybe…she's pretty cool…for a girl.' He shakes his head and follows her into the kitchen.

Anna was with Scarlett later that day, helping her improve her shoe lacing skills. She still had trouble like with her shoes, just like her sister had when she was her age. "Mama, sneakers are annoying," she whines. Anna chuckles.

"I did too, sweetie, but trust me. They'll be your best friend in this world, ok?" she says, tying up one into a bow. The girl nods, but sighs.

"I still don't like them," she mumbles, and Anna snickers quietly. From below, she hears voices talking, two being Daryl and Rick. She listens closely.

"We're running low on supplies and we need to head out sooner or later. The food in the garden won't last us forever," Rick said.

"The last store we went to didn't have anything edible," Anna heard this new voice. It was Carol. "I think we should just hold off until we find another place-"

"Mama, too tight!" Scarlett whines. Anna looks down and notices she's clutching the laces. She smiles sheepishly and looses the laces.

"Sorry sweetie," she chuckles. The girl gets up and runs to go meet with the other kids while Anna listen to down below.

"Carol- what about when it gets cold? We need to find a place now," Daryl says.

"I think-"

"I know a place," Anna says, speaking up from above. All three people look up, and a range of expressions crosses their faces. Carol's glare was of course sent her way, Daryl had a smile on his face on seeing her, and Rick was confused.

"You do?" Rick says. Anna nods, coming down the stairs. She smiles at Daryl and takes the map from his hands, laying it out on a table. She points her finger at the prison and another finger on an area around five miles away.

"From here, it's about a fifteen minute drive. It's a huge mall that still has electricity. Food, clothes, water…all kinds of things. Even toys for the kids. That's where I went to find stuff when I was alone with Aria and Scarlett. It's LOADED. Great place to go to. Especially for supplies."

"How come I've been over every inch of this land yet ya find this?" Daryl asks. Anna rolls her eyes, smirking.

"Because I'm more observant then you and probably always will be," she says, taking the map back. He raises an eyebrow at her.

"Oh really?" She scoffs.

"More positive than anything in my life," she teases. She turns to Rick. "I can head out and get what we need. I'm sure I could handle it-"

"There is no way in hell that ya are going alone," Daryl interrupts. Anna starts to says something but Rick starts up.

"Daryl's right. We need a lot of stuff, so that means lots of looking. You're gonna need backup and Daryl's the perfect guy for it. Plus, even if we did let you go, he would probably chase after you anyway," Rick taunts. Daryl glares at him.

"Don't start with me, Grimes," he growls. Rick chuckles while Anna smiles, but Carol was still glaring at the girl.

"Why not let her go alone? If she's been out with just her two kids for the past years, she seems fully capable of going there by herself-"

"Because she's not alone anymore and needs help," Daryl says firmly. "And I know she'll somehow screw it up. Might as well be there to pick up the pieces." Anna smacks his shoulder, causing him to chuckle.

"We'll head out in a minute," she says, a playful glare sent at Daryl, and then turning back to Rick. "Give me a moment to get my stuff. You have a list?" she asks. Rick nods. "Good. Come to my cell when you're ready Daryl." He nods, but she could tell he was trying to hide a smile.

She climbs up the stairs and back to her cell when she hears Carol call out to her. "What Carol?" she asks exasperated. She's about to say something when Anna interrupts her. "You know what? I don't want to know. Just go and do your high school pity party somewhere else." She walks into her cell, smiling to herself. She loved torturing her.

She grabs her knives and sticks them in her belt, then placed on her boots, sighing as she came up. Maybe she should back off the woman…

She snorts. Nah.

"Ya ready, princess?" she hears from the doorway. She snickers.

"Ready when you are, cowboy," she says back, staring to walk out of the cell, but he grabs her hand and pulls her back in. "What?" she laughs.

"Are ya sure ya want to go and get the supplies? I can easily go by myself," he says lowly, his eyes making contact with hers. She smiles.

"I know you're concerned, but trust me, I'll be ok, definitely if you're there. I always have been in the past, right?" she chuckles. He's silent for a minute before nodding.

"Then let's go," he sighs. She snickers.

"Now there's my brave cowboy," she says softly, ruffling his head like he used to do to her. He rolls his eyes. "Let's get some food. I'm starving."

**Another chapter done! I decided to include some of Aria in this chapter a little more, because she hasn't been in it as much, so I decided she's going to have a growing friendship with Carl, so this is the beginning of that. I swear, from the end of season 2 to the end of season 3, I wanted to slap that kid so badly, but now I have a new found respect for him. XD Review! Hope you Enjoyed!**


	7. Raid

**This chapter might be a little shorter but who knows? I might not include a memory-like a full blown 4 page memory or something like that-in this chapter because the memory I have had to come after what I have planned. So stay tuned for that, but I'll be sure to get that up as soon as possible. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 7**

Twilight. Who the hell came up with that idea? What was the crazy person that came up with the idea that vampires are supposed to SPARKLE in the sun? Weren't they supposed to shrivel up and die and fall to dust in the sun? And weren't vampires supposed to, like, kill humans? Not marry them? This book made no sense.

Aria placed the book down and picks up her notebook, shaking her head. Why was she putting herself through the torture of even giving that book a chance? She still remembers when Judy had asked her to try it.

"_Come on Aria! It's actually really good!" Aria rolls her eyes._

"_The movies suck and people tell me so do the books." Judy sighs._

"_Come on, man! I'll pay you ten bucks if you read the first few chapters! Fifty if you read the whole entire book!" Aria narrowed her eyes, staring at the book. Not thinking, she grabs the books out of her hands and squints at it. Looking back at Judy, she smirks._

"_Make that ten a twenty and make that fifty a hundred." Judy glares at her._

"_It's just a book!" _

"_Then I'm not reading it," Aria says, simply tossing the book back to Judy, who caught it clumsily. She glares at Aria even harder._

"_Why won't you give it a chance?" she whines. Aria raises an eyebrow._

"_Why don't you give Harry Potter a chance? They're way better then that piece of shit." Judy rolls her eyes, smiling slightly._

"_Because I'm not into boy wizards and giant snakes. Plus, that Voldemort guy scares the crap out of me. I'd rather die then read about him."_

"_So you're more into a girl that has no emotion, a sparkling vampire that, when you think about it, is a pedophile because he wants a girl that's like, 300 years younger than him, and a werewolf who doesn't do anything but take off his shirt?" Judy nods, smiling sheepishly. Aria rolls her eyes again. "No taste in good literature," she mumbles, tucking her Stephen King book into her book bag. "Have you ever read 'The Shining?'" _

_Judy develops a confused look on her face. "That what?"_

"_Oh my God," Aria mumbles into her hands. _

Aria chuckles at the memory. Her friend had never been that good with picking out books. But at times she wondered, when she actually was reading that stupid book, maybe somewhere Judy was reading 'Harry Potter.' She wished. She had no clue if her friend was alive or not.

Standing up, she glances down from the guard tower she had climbed up into. She wasn't even on watch, but every once and a while she would glance outside to see if any lurkers were around. Or walkers. That's what they called them.

She had seen her mother and Daryl leave to go on the raid earlier and smiled slightly at how they were completely alike. Both the same walking, talking, even hand gestures. They were EXACTLY alike. Aria wondered if her mother was still slightly pissed off after what happened three years ago, but judging from what she saw, it seemed like she forgot completely.

Then why weren't they together?

Fuck together. Why weren't they _married by now?_

This dude had been through everything with her mother. This dude had been around when Aria was a kid, all the time, and of course when Scarlett was a baby.

Scarlett.

She had lied.

She had gone off the charts and lied to the only person around her age in this fucked up world all because she was afraid to call conclusions. But in this world nothing made sense. So why couldn't she tell _one person _who Scarlett really was?

It was the apocalypse now. It wouldn't matter anyway. There wouldn't really be anyone to tell. So why was she keeping secrets? She wanted to wait for her mom to say ok, but if she didn't tell someone, then she was going to implode.

Scratch that. She wouldn't implode. She would explode. Everything would come out at once and she would regret it so much.

But should she tell someone?

She groans and leans against the railing of the tower, her head in her hands. She was so fucken conflicted all the time now. Nothing ever seemed easy. The only thing she wasn't conflicted about was if this world was going to ever go back to normal.

Yeah, _right._

She leans back up and see's Scarlett in the field, playing tag with a bunch of the kids her age. For a little girl in this screwed up world, she was doing pretty good. Unlike her older sister who was slowly dripping to the edge of insanity.

She hears the hatch from the floor open and Aria glances down at Carl coming through it. He looks up at her surprised. "I didn't know you were in here." She shrugs.

"I came up here to escape I guess." He picks up the Twilight book and snorts.

"You actually read this?" She chuckles.

"No, I was dared to before all this, but never really did it. But I found it in a store one day and said 'Why the hell not?' Got nothing else better to do." Carl takes the notebook from the floor and looks inside. When he sees what's there, his eyes widen.

"You drew these?" he asks, amazed. She smiles, taking the book from his hands.

"Yeah," she says, proud. Inside were some very detailed sketches of the forest, a dead lurker, the prison yard, her mother reading. He laughs at the one of her mother.

"This is really good," he says. She smirks.

"Why, thank you, kind sir," she chuckles. He snickers back. But she shrugs and gives the book back to him to look at it. "I went to LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts back in New York, so the summer before I started I took some pretty hefty art class's. I was halfway through my freshman year when the shit hit the fan."

"Jeez, these are good," he whispers. "I've never seen a kid my age actually draw this well. The best I can do is a stick figure." She laughs, shaking her head.

"That was me in 5th grade. Not so much anymore," she chuckles. "But boy do I miss it. It was the best school ever!" He looks up from the notebook.

"What was the typical day for you?" he asks. She thinks for a second. It was so long since then.

"Well, I lived about eight minutes away, so I usually rode my bike but took the bus when it was cold. I woke up around seven then went at eight. School started at nine with ten half an hour periods. First was dance, then art, math, English, lunch, music, social studies, science, drama, and then a study hall. Dance and music was always my favorite."

"Wait, I thought you said it was a performing arts school? Why is there English and all that other crap?" She scoffs.

"Core curriculum. Every high school, no matter what, has to have those subjects for at least one year. Hated math, even though I did superb in it." He raises an eyebrow.

"How well did you do?" Thinking.

"When all of this started I had a 99 average overall."

"Jesus. I'd give anything to have that grade in math." She chuckles.

"Sad thing is I never even tried. I just went with it and I got good grades. Maybe I'm some genius or something. But my brain has yet to find that person," she says, knocking on her head. "No one's home right now. Come back and leave a message."

He smiles at this and looks back down at the notebook. "When my mom was still around she used to try to teach me school during this, but I just found it useless. I still went along with it though." She notices the sad tone in his voice and places a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up.

"I think it's useless too. But I'm pretty sure she had a legit reason to be teaching it to you. Maybe you need math to calibrate how to shoot a lurker or some shit like that." She snorts. "Yeah right. Thank God my mom ain't about that life." He smiles slightly and her very small southern accent.

"I hear a bit of an accent there." She smirks.

"I lived down here for six years. I guess it kind of stayed with me, even though it rarely ever comes out. I'm used to being a New Yorker thank you. Supporter of Yankees and all things bagels and pizza."

"You were in a performing arts school. Did you ever get privileges or something?" She nods.

"I've always been in performing arts schools since first grade. I've performed for the nutcracker in Lincoln Center, sang on Broadway, and even met some pretty famous people. Michael Jackson before he passed away. He was kind of weird."

"You've preformed on Broadway?" She nods again.

"Yup. I went to great schools. Mother was one of the best singers out there. She was the original wicked witch in Wicked. She was a dancer in Lincoln Center. She wanted to be this person who took over the city. And she did. It was always her dream since she was a kid. It was mine too. I always wanted to be this big-time Tony winner or Grammy winner. But now this all happened and that kind of went down the toilet so…" She sticks her thumbs down and makes a fart noise, causing him to laugh.

"I've never been to New York. My dad was supposed to take me one day but I highly doubt that will ever happen now." She shakes her head.

"Never say never. Maybe it won't be the glam it once was, but it'll still be there…at least I hope." She looks down. "Do you ever think this world will go back to normal?" she asks shyly. She knew it was a stupid question, but she had to ask _someone._

He thinks for a second before replying, shaking his head. "I don't think it's ever going to go back to normal. The threat of these guys will always be on us. We're all infected, so unless someone miraculously comes up with a cure, we're all screwed when we die. But maybe there will be some sort of order that will make life a little easier to live with all of these walkers around. Then again, I'd be surprised if that happened. Government hasn't talked in forever. Maybe never will." He looks at her, who is now looking at him. "Then again, never say never," he grins, making her laugh. He looks back down at the book and turns to the page, surprised at what he sees "Who's the dude?"

She looks at the picture and her eyes widen. It was a picture of four people in Central Park. The two little girls were obviously Aria and Scarlett, and the older woman their mother, but there was also a man standing next to Anna, holding her hand as the kids played.

She takes the notebook and shuts it, holding it close to her heart. "Whoa, sorry if I-"

"No, its fine," she says quickly, shaking her head. "That picture just brings back memories."

"Good ones?" he asks. She smiles.

"Really good ones." He leans closer, his hands in his pockets.

"Well, who is the dude exactly?" She bites her lip, thinking again. Should she tell him? It would feel so good to say it to someone.

"Carl, I lied a little about my life before the other day," she says. His brow furrows.

"About what?" She finally looks at him, her eyes determined.

"Can you keep a secret?"

(WDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW)

Anna and Daryl were about a few minutes away from the mall. The ride had been in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Anna had the window open, the wind blowing the hair away from her face, and her eyes would close in pleasure. She loved having a window open.

"Jesus, yer like a dog," Daryl teases. Anna turns to him and sticks out her tongue.

"So? Dogs are loyal companions and have eternal love for anyone. Even if you kick them around and torture them until they can't stand, they'll always love you." He smirks at that.

"Sounds like ya," he snickers. She gasps and punches his shoulder, causing him to chuckle. "That the best ya got, princess?" She glares at him and turns away, looking back out the window.

"I'll get you one day," she mumbles under her breath as the mall comes into view. She smiles and looks at him. "This is the place."

He drives up and stops in one of the many open parking spots. Anna opens the door and is almost immediately met by a lurker. Quickly, she took out one of knives and stabs it into its head, killing it instantly. A second later she sees and arrow whiz past her head into a lurker behind her. Turing around, she sees one on the ground, the arrow in its head. Daryl walks around her and pulls the arrow out. She smiles at him. "Thanks, Daryl," she says.

"Not gonna let ya die yet," he groans, reloading his crossbow. She walks forward through the parking lot, taking out any of the things near her, and when she reaches the door, opens it for Daryl to get inside and closes it behind her.

The mall was loaded. It was two stories. Where they were, there was a food court and a ton of boutiques, but also drug stores and little kiosks. And it all had electricity. "There had to be a generator that's still pumping downstairs."

"All I know is that this place is our savior," Daryl mumbles, walking over to one of the food stands. He takes one of the chip bags and throws it to Anna and then takes one for himself. He waves them in front of her. "Still remember these?" she scoffs.

"Why wouldn't I? You used to eat these every day after school," she says, handling the Doritos bag in her hand, popping it open. "Beside, you're the one who turned me on to these," she says, popping one in her mouth. She waves her hand to the drugstore. "The supplies from your list is in there. The stuff I have is in this general area."

"Ya keep that ass safe, ya hear?" he says, walking over to the store. She chuckles.

"I'll be fine," she says, turning around and walking into the store she wasn't even supposed to go to. Apple.

She walks in sneakily and sees all the things behind the counter. Smiling, she takes one of the old iPhones and starts it up, amazed these things still exist. She tucks the charger in her pocket, because there were certain parts of her car she could charge it with, and puts the phone in her other. She missed these so much.

She walks out of the store and looks at the list that she was given. Aria asked for sunglasses, Scarlett for some Velcro sneakers, making Anna roll her eyes, Hershel for some new pants, Beth wanted a new tank…almost everything seemed to be clothes on her list.

Of course Rick would give the clothes list to her.

She chuckles lightly and walks in the direction of the Macy's near the end of the hall, her knife out, stabbing any lurkers in the head. Always had to be the head. She still remembers when all of this happened.

"_Mama? What's going on?" Aria asked from her room, a backpack on her back. Scarlett ran out of hers and came to her mommy, pulling her shirt. _

"_Mommy, I'm scared!" Anna leans down and pecks her head._

"_It'll be ok, sweetie. We'll get out of here." She had to see if her family was ok. She thinks quickly and pulls up a map on her phone. "Aria! We're heading down south again." The daughters eyes widened, and Anna could see a glimmer of hope in the 14 year olds eyes._

"_Will we see-"_

"_I don't know sweetie. Maybe," she says. "I haven't talked to him since Tuesday. I don't know where he is right now." A small part of Anna hoped she would see him again. But another small part was still slightly pissed that he wasn't back yet._

"_Mama!" Scarlett screams. Anna turns around and sees one of those things hovering over Scarlett, it's mouth wide open, ready to bite into the 5 year olds delicious skin. Anna takes out her gun and shoots it straight in the head. The blood splattered on Scarlett, terrifying her. "Mama!" she cries, tears slipping down her face._

_Anna comes closer to her and takes her up in her arms. "It's ok, girl. It's gonna be ok."_

"_You shot that man," she whimpers. _

"_He wasn't well…Aria, unlock the car!" The teenager nods and gets the keys, unlocking the car quickly as the three of them piled into the car, Anna hitting the gas pedal and speeding off where there wasn't any traffic. She knew these routes by now._

_Aria leans her head against the seat, while Scarlett stares back at the panic and the fading silhouette of NYC. "Mom," Aria sighs._

"_Yeah, Ari?" she asks._

"_I think it's the end times," she chuckles slightly. And for some reason this made Anna laugh as well, memories coming back to her. _

"_I agree," she chuckles, driving off into the highway. _

It had been a year now. They were still alive and kicking. Aria was an ass-kicking machine who wasn't afraid to try new things. Scarlett was learning how to survive yet still be a little kid at the same time. Both girls were a year older.

And they had found him.

Granted, it was a year later, but they had found him.

She shakes her head and walks into the Macys, heading straight for the men's department to pick up the pants for Hershel. She picks out a pair of tan ones, moving on to the next section, which was little girls.

The Velcro shoes she picked were purple with black Velcro, which Anna knew that she would like. Her favorite color was purple. She always wore a purple headband.

The sunglasses she picked were some cheap ones, but they would suit for Aria. She never focused on the quality. She just wanted to look cool. She wanted to be a bad ass, and she thought having sunglasses would help.

Please. To be a badass you need a leather jacket. That's when you're a badass.

She walks over to the juniors section of get the stuff for Beth and stops at the party dresses, a smile on her face. She walks over and touches a red one that had a flowing bottom and was strapless. Seeing it brought back more memories of senior year, making her laugh.

"_Anna, why are ya draggin' me to this?" Daryl whines as she drags her friends hand towards the Macys. She chuckles, waving her other hand._

"_Because you love me and you will help me judge!" He rolls his eyes._

"_Don't love ya that much to be helping ya with prom. Not going, remember?" She turns around and faces him, her hands on her hips._

"_I don't care if you're going to be pranking the god damn principal of the school, which you have done. You will help me pick out t a dress. Besides, none of my girls are around to help, so you're my last option." He frowns but sighs._

"_Princess," he grumbles. She smiles._

"_And damn proud of it!" She takes his hand and drags him into the juniors section, him cringing as she surged them through a line of girls fighting over a dress. _

"_This is gonna be my hell on earth," he says._

"_I thought I already was?" she teases._

"_Yer a close second." She snorts, shaking her head. She plops him down in a chair and he raises an eyebrow at her. _

"_I already have three dresses on hold. You tell me which one if better, k? And don't fake it. I can tell when you fake it." She disappears into the dressing room while he crosses his arms, grumbling under his breath._

_Why did he get himself into this?_

_Oh right, this was Anna._

_She came out, the first two dresses having gotten a no. She places on the next dress, which was almost knee length, strapless, and a dark red color. When she steps out, he sits up straighter a bit more, mumbling 'wow' under his breath._

_She certainly wasn't the ten year old girl he had met years ago anymore._

"_How does it look?" she asks, examining herself in the mirror. I mean, I think it's pretty good, but maybe I can make some-"_

"_It's perfect," he says, interrupting her. She smiles at him. "That's the outfit." She sighs, looking back at the mirror._

"_Good, because this was the dress I wanted." She looks back at him, grinning. "Thanks, Daryl. This actually helped." She's silent for a second. "You know, you could come to prom with me if you like. Even though you're older then everyone, you're still a part of the class. It would be fun." He snorts._

"_Don't wear suits. Don't dance."_

"_Oh, that's a lie!" she says, going back into the room. He snickers, shaking his head. But she wasn't completely wrong. He only danced around her though. Not around those other creepy 18 year olds._

She takes a shaky breath wipes the tears from her face that were coming. She missed that. She missed _him. _She missed the life she had, the calling when he was gone, the jokes and laughs.

So why was there still a small part of her that was holding her back?

"Anna, are ya ok?" She spins around and sees Daryl standing there, a concerned look on his face. "You've be crying," he says, wiping her tears away. She looks down.

"I'm fine," she mumbles. He takes her hand.

"Anna-"

"Daryl, you left," she finally says, looking back up. "To take care of your father. The man who BEAT YOU SENSELESS! Do you know how heartbroken I felt? Aria was a mess. Scarlett was just wondering where you went because you were always around her. It was so…weird, not having you around. It didn't feel natural, and it was all to take care of your good for nothing parent!"

"I kept in contact all the time," he says back.

"That's not enough. That's never enough!" She backs away from him and crosses her arms over her chest. "I wanted to wake up beside you again! To feel your arms around me and to kiss me in the morning! I wanted you there and you just-left. For two years. And, I talked to you all the time, but it was never the same. And when I saw you in the woods that day I felt such a wave of joy over me that I saw you, even though you looked completely different," she chuckles a bit at the end. "But the fact that you left…I just-"

"It was the help Merle, Anna. I hated that man with a passion, but I couldn't just leave Merle alone with him. But it was a stupid mistake. It hurt _so much_ not be around ya." He comes closer and grabs her hand again. "Around ya, and Aria, and Scarlett. Even the damn dog." He snickers quietly. "That stupid dog."

"That dog loved you," she replies, smiling softly. "But I just…Scarlett, Daryl. She was so confused when you left. She thought she did something bad to make you leave." His brow furrows.

"She did?" he asks. She nods, a small half smile on her face. A few tears slipped out of her eyes and he wiped them away, not wanted to see her cry again.

"She did…Daryl, you're her daddy…you're part of the reason she's even around…she even called you that by accident after she left…and she still doesn't know. She thought she made a mistake…" He smiles down at her.

"She called me daddy?" he asks softly. She nods.

"Yeah," she chuckles. "She thought it was just a slip of the tongue. But she was right…I should have told her. She said she wanted you to be her daddy. Those girls…especially Scarlett…love you _more then life._ And when you left they were crushed." She chuckles slightly before continuing. "Aria even asked when you were gonna pop the question."

"She would, wouldn't she?" he snickers. She laughs softly, nodding.

"Yeah, she would." She finally looks into his blue eyes, and she can tell they're filled with love, something she only saw when she looked into him. She sighs. "I love you…I missed you so much," she whispers, her forehead now against his, eyes closed. He snickers again.

"Bout time ya admit that…I love ya, too," he says back softly. And finally, he leans in and connects his lips to hers, something he had wanted to do since he saw her again.

Her arms wrap around his neck, pulling him closer to her as his wrap around her waist, his hold on her tightening. Fireworks went off everywhere, and Anna smiles into the kiss, happy that this was finally happening. Imagine the look on Carol's face if she saw this.

Sooner or later, the kiss got more and more passionate, and she was soon pushed up against the nearest wall, her hands now tangled in his hair. He moves his lips from hers down her neck, sucking on some spots and nipping, making her moan in pleasure, when a sudden thought comes up. "Shouldn't we be getting the food we need?" she chuckles slightly.

He snorts and comes up, their eyes connecting for a second, and she see's the mischievous in his eyes again, the on she loved so much. "Screw the food. They can wait." And his lips connected with hers again.

**Holy shit that took me long. Longest chapter yet. And THEY FINALLY KISSED. I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO WRITE THIS SCENE ALL DAY. Maybe that's why I couldn't concentrate on my test today. XD Hope you enjoyed! Review!**


	8. Truth

**Ok, so I'm starting this chapter at ten at night because I already got a few new followers and reviewers, so I thought why the hell not? So please forgive any spelling errors that may be in this chapter. So I have another memory for this story, and this I kind of how their whole romance and Scarlett started.**

**Chapter 8**

_The director called out to Anna as she finished singing her finale for the umpteenth time. She sighs, starting to walk over to Mr. Grickly. Her old friend, Joey, looks at her apologetically. She always pondered whatever happened to Joey. When he was a kid, he wanted to be this big time sports superstar, but now he was singing twinkletown in tights on a Broadway stage. _

"_I feel bad for you," he whispers in her ear as she walks by. She snorts, turning to him._

"_Feel bad. This nig-"_

"_Miss. Williams!" the director calls again. Anna cringes and walks towards the man. She was 24, but this man intimidated her. Not to mention half the time he was a total bastard. But she places a smile on her face and walks up to him, acting as sweet as possible._

"_Yes, Mr. Grickly?" she asks sweetly. He looks at her for a second before looking down at his clipboard. 'That motherfucken clipboard,' she growls internally. She wanted to rip it out of his hands and break it in two. She's glaring at it when he looks back up, looking curiously at her._

"_Miss. Williams?" he asks again. She looks up, no shock on her face. She smiles._

"_Yes?" she asks._

"_You're performance rate on that last high note is dropping rapidly. You need to practice this more often. I know you spend most of your time with that-"_

"_I get it," she says, interrupting him before he could say anything else bad about Daryl. He always made fun of him, and she wanted to punch his ugly little face until it bled dark red. "I'll continue to practice a lot more often. I have been lacking and I need to catch up. Thank you for informing me."_

_She starts to turn back when the director grabs her hand, stopping her. She inwardly cringes again. 'Get your slimy little hands off me!' she thinks. She turns back to him. "Yes?" _

"_I can help you with your music tonight. Be here at 7:00." She starts to protest, but the man is already walking away from her. She sighs and slumps, her arms crossing over her chest. Joey comes up and places an arm around her._

"_Got stuffed by Mr. Bitch?" She chuckles, nodding._

"_Yup. Have to be here at eight to practice my 'role,'" she says, using air quotes. She throws her hands up in the air and growls. "I fucken hate him! I have been practicing my ass off every single day and now he's saying I'm not fucken hitting that god damn high note? What is up with that, damnit?! I-I just can't anymore. This ass-"_

"_Ok Anna," he chuckles. "Let your anger out on the seat," he says gesturing to the velvet theater seat. She kicks the side and sighs._

"_Wanna grab some lunch or something? I hear there's a Sbarro's aroud the corner." He nods._

"_Sure, I'm up for that."_

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"_So now I have to reschedule the meeting with the teacher and just-Ugh! I hate this director. Whatever happened to Mr. Biglely?" Joey shrugs._

"_I think his wife was having a baby and he got a big deal in LA. Why he would leave the most know musical boulevard on earth, I have no fucken clue. But he left, so no were stuck with Mr. Stick up his Ass…this dude, man…he's making me stay after for lines I have read PERFECTLY for the past three weeks! I've been missing personal time with Shane," he says pouting._

_Anna laughs. Not only was Joey a theater geek, he was gay. And also one of Anna's closest friends. She got along better with gay guys then straight girls. She loved him so much. As a friend of course._

"_You missing Shane, sweetie?" she mocks. He pushes her shoulder._

"_You know what? You're face," he chuckles._

"_Is beautiful, I know," she concludes. He groans, which makes her laugh. _

"_All I want is to cuddle with my boyfriend and watch Lost-"_

"_And have sex," she mumbles. He glares at her and she smiles innocently. "Hey, it's true." He keeps the glare for a few second but looks down, looking defeated and sighed._

"_I am so sexually frustrated. It's been three weeks since the last time because of this busy schedule. I need some Shaney goodness now." _

"_How are you and Shane doing? I heard they're going to start legalizing gay marriage in some states." He smiles wide, nodding._

"_We plan on doing that. He just hasn't popped the question yet." She starts to sip her water, smiling a little. "What about you and Daryl?"_

_Choking, she starts to cough and sputter out random nonsense, causing Joey to laugh. When she's able to talk again and say coherent sentences, she says, "We're not together," she laughs nervously._

_He stares at her dumbfounded. "Girl, it is the most obvious thing that you love each other. He's been with you for such a long time. He got a place so he could see you here, and now he's living with you in your apartment. The only thing we need is a big fat kiss." _

"_It's not that I don't love him-" She covers her mouth, her cheeks reddening and Joey's bright grin. She sighs. "Ok, I love him, but I just don't want to get hurt. I've been hurt so much and I don't want to possibly ruin my friendship with Daryl." He raises an eyebrow._

"_That man would never hurt you. I see it in his eyes. He loves you and that little girl more than anything. And I can tell that you want him just as much as he wants you." She sighs, shaking her head. "Let's see…if you somehow find the balls to get together with him, I will pay you a thousand bucks." Her eyes widen._

"_Joey, you already know I like him. Why are you-"_

"_Come on, Anna," he says, extending his hand. She stares at it for a second before scoffing, shaking it._

"_You're the devil, you know that?" He laughs evilly._

"_Oh, I know."_

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"_So I need you to look after Aria tonight, ok?" Anna said to Daryl later that day. "I hate this director but I have to do what needs to be done."_

"_Its fine, Anna," he says. "All this little girl does is watch TV." She smiles sadly._

"_Yeah, but I feel bad because you were going to go out and have fun and now I'm holding you back from doing just that." He hands her the music folder and chuckles._

"_Ya always come first, Anna." She smiles, this time a bit more happier._

"_I'll try to be home as soon as possible but with this man it never seems enough." He plops down on the couch, staring at her._

"_I'll be right here." She rolls her eyes._

"_Thanks, D. I'll be back soon." She closes the door behind her and walks down the hallway to the elevator. This would be a painful night._

"_Daryl?" Aria asks from the ground. He looks at the kid._

"_Yeah?" he asks._

"_Is 4__th__ grade scary? Because people tell me it's not fun." He chuckles, leaning down next to her on the carpet. _

"_Let me tell ya a story about 4__th__ grade…"_

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_Rain had started from above and Anna ran into the theater, trying her hardest not to get wet. When she came in, she found that there was nothing on except the stage light and a giant piano in the middle. The director stood there, but he looked different. He was in a suit._

_He never wore a suit._

_Was this like a date to him or something?_

"_Miss. Williams. Why don't we begin?" he says, gesturing to the piano. She nods slowly, dropping her bag to the ground._

"_Sure…so you want me to hit the last high note?" He nods, chuckling slightly. She looks back at her paper quickly, avoiding his creepy eyes._

"_Yes, I'll start from pickup to 64." He starts near the end and she starts to sing, trying her hardest not to barf at the way he was looking at her. _

"Tell them how I am, Defying Gravity.

I'm flying high, Defying Gravity,

And soon I'll match them in renown

And nobody in all of Oz,

Is ever gonna bring me down!

Bring me down!

Ahh!"

_She finishes smiling, but notices that the music stopped playing. She glances at the piano for a split second before she was pushed against the wall by the director. His eyes now filled with lust._

"_Get off me!" she hisses. _

"_Oh, I've seen your glances across the room. I know you're into me. It's about time we seal the deal, yes?" he says, placing his chapped, disgusting lips on hers. Almost immediately, she reaches into her pocked and pulls out a pocket knife, stabbing it in his shoulder._

_The asshole yells in pain and backs up, giving Anna the upper hand. She turns him around, pins his hands above his head, and aims the knife near the vein of his throat, where his pulse was usually found. His eyes were closed in pain and fear._

"_Ok, you listen to me," she hisses. "This is our little secret. No police, no words. I will not kill your right now, but if you even try to touch me again, I swear to God I will not hesitate to cut your balls off right in front of the whole cast. Got it?" He nods weekly, whimpering in pain. She lets him go, his body falling to the floor. _

_She walks over to her bag and slings it over her shoulder, turning back to him. "And one more thing. You say anything else about Daryl or my friends, you FIRE me, I will not hesitate to slit your throat in your sleep." She walks out of the theater, and walks to her car in the garage, but tears start to slip down her face. _

_It had almost happened._

_AGAIN._

_Thank God she had that pocket knife._

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_Anna rides the elevator all the way up to the sixth floor where her apartment was. Tears were now slipping rapidly down her face. It had almost happened again._

_When the door opens, she walks down the hallway and to her apartment door, using the key quickly, and walks in, slamming the door and going straight to the kitchen. Daryl's in there with a chicken sandwhich in front of him. He sees her and smiles._

"_Hey, how was the-" He sees the tears and gets up, coming over to her. "What happened? Were ya fired?" She shakes her head."Then what happened-"_

"_Daryl, can you just get me a beer?" He's surprised at first, because she rarely ever drinks, but nods and gets a Budweiser from the fridge, popping the bottle and giving it to her. She sits down in her seat and chugs it. A look of amusement comes across his face._

"_Jesus, Anna," he chuckles. _

"_The director tried to rape me." He drops the plate he was holding and sit down next to her, a glare set on his face._

"_He did what?!" he growls. She nods. Apparently the beer helped her get the words out better._

"_He started to play Defying Gravity and then he stopped and came up to me and pushed me against the wall and started to kiss me but then I pulled out a knife and stabbed his shoulder and told him to leave me the hell alone and threatened him and left and why does this always happen to me?!" she finishes, tears now falling down her face. "What is so rape appealing about me? Why do guys just want to do that?!" _

_He scoots his chair closer to her and wipes the tears from her face. "Guys are stupid and I'm a guy. They think they're not good enough for ya, which they aren't, so they step up to that to get some. It ain't your fault. But I do hope ya said something that scared the balls off that asshole." She chuckles._

"_I threatened to cut off his balls in his sleep," she says. He chuckles. "Is that good enough?"_

"_Perfect." She stares at him for a second, biting her lip, before she leans in and places her lips on his. At first he was stiff, surprised. But then he relaxed into the kiss, his arms going around her waist. It got more and more passionate, her hands starting to work her way under his shirt when he pulls back. "Yer drunk."_

"_I had one beer. I'm not drunk." _

"_Anna-"_

"_Daryl, just kiss me." He smiles and does just that, just as passionate and hot as before. He lifts her up and her legs wrap around him as he carries her to her bedroom, their lips not disconnecting once. When they reach it, He kicks the door open and then kicks the door closed, making sure that the kid down the hall would not hear any of what was about to ensue._

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_The next week went by. And Anna and Daryl were now together. After that night, everything had changed. Both admitted they had wanted to do that for a while. Joey had paid her the thousand dollars reluctantly. She had laughed in his face when he did._

_On Saturday morning, she was in the kitchen making some coffee when a sudden wave a nausea came over her, She drops the put on the counter and runs to the bathroom, emptying her stomach into the toilet. She hadn't eaten anything last night because she was out so late. _

_No way,_

_She backs up away from the toilet, knowing what this could mean. She gets up from the floor and looks in her cabinet for a test. Her friend Lily had given it to her years ago when she conceived her first child. She takes it out of the box, locks the door, and squats down on the toilet. It was a week. This would tell her._

_After a moment, she flushed the toilet and looks at the test. What she sees makes her want to throw up again._

_Positive._

"_Anna?" she hears from outside. Daryl. She panics for a second before calming down. He loved her. It was ok._

"_Um…Daryl? We need to talk for a moment."_

**Present**

"Wait, so Daryl is the father of Scarlett?" Carl asks Aria after she had told him. She nods, a smile on her face. Thank God she got that out.

"Yeah."

"But why didn't you ever tell Scarlett?" She sighed.

"Because my mom and Daryl weren't married so it would be hard to explain to a baby about how this all happened. I was expecting him to propose to her before he left, but he didn't. But I had the biggest feeling. So in love. It was like a fucking romance movie," she chuckles.

"So that man in the picture is Daryl?" he asks. She nods, smiling at her work. He whistles. "Damn, I didn't even recognize him. He looks so different." She laughs.

"This was before he had hair like Chewbacca. And before he rode that motorcycle everywhere. The Daryl you people know, that's just a side of him. There are so many more layers to him then you think. He was so good with my mother, and his brother teased him mercessly about it. But he didn't care. He loved her. The only time he ever listened to his brother was when he had to go down to help his brother, which in my opinion is the stupidest idea I have ever heard."

"So are they still together? Because they seem awful close." She shakes her head.

"In my mind I seriously think they are. Either they are now or they will. They attract to each other like bee's to honey." She turns around and leans her back on the railing, letting the sun beam down on her back. "You see, that's why Carol doesn't stand a chance,'

"Why? He-"

"Doesn't matter what he did. They don't have that deep connection that Daryl and my mother have. My mom knows every nook and krany of that man. She's able to get down into that man more than anyone else, more than his own family. They literally belong together. They just need to let it be known, because the tension is killing me."

"You love Daryl?" he asks. She's silent for a moment before replying.

"Yeah, I do. He was the only fatherly figure in my life, and I REALLY wanted him to be my dad. I still kind of do," she says sheepishly. "He's been with me since I was a baby, and of course with Scarlett because it's his own kid, but it just…uh, I want to tie the knot. But in this world I guess it's hard to do." He shrugs his shoulders.

"Like someone said, never say never." She smiles at him and is about to say something when she hears a car horn. She glances down at the gates and see's the car they traveled in. "They're back."

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Anna later sat in a cell with her journal, writing about whatever. Whenever something popped into her mind, she would write it in the journal. She had had this since freshman year, and she was finally running out of pages. She never thought she would.

It was a miracle.

"Hey mama?" she hears from the door. She looks up and finds Aria leaning against the door, arms crossed, a confused look on her face.

"Yes?" She looks down and looks up, does that again, tried to form words, and then blurts it out.

"Are you and Daryl still together?" Anna chuckles slightly, looking back down at her book. "Well are you?" she asks again. Anna rolls her eyes and looks back at her daughter, raising an eyebrow.

"And when Is my love life the center point of your whole universe, Aria?" she chuckles. Aria rolls her eyes back at her.

"The fact that everytime you two look at each other it looks like you're undressing each other with your eyes!" Anna laughs, closing her journal and motioning for her daughter to come over. She sits on the bed in the cell and waits.

"Yes, Daryl and I are together." She smiles wide.

"I knew it!" she cheers, but Anna keeps her hands down, silently telling her to be quiet.

"I'm trying to keep it on the downlow, ok? I'm telling Scarlett who Daryl really is today, so don't go expressing my love for Daryl to the halls of this prison. I don't need Carol coming after me with a knife just yet." Aria nods, zipping her lips.

"Won't tell anyone…except Carl." Anna raises an eyebrow,

"Except Carl?" Aria nods, smiling again.

"I talked to him before and told him about Scarlett and Daryl and the whole fiasco. I needed to tell someone, mama! If I kept it in any longer I would have exploded and it all would have come out at once and it would have sounded bad and just-"

"I get it, Ari," Anna chuckles. "You trust Carl. Just make sure to tell him not to tell anyone, ok?" She nods. "So…you and Carl?" Aria rolls her eyes and playfully punches her mother's shoulder, causing Anna to laugh.

"He's the only kid here my age! Do you expect me to hang out with the 5 and 6 year old that Scarlett hangs around?" Anna chuckles again and shakes her head.

"No, I'm not saying anything bad about it, Ari. I'm saying it's nice to have a friend, especially in this world. But seriously, tell him not to tell anyone. No go tell him," she says, pushing her daughter off the bed slightly. She laughs and nods, running out the door.

There's one kid down. Now to talk to Scarlett.

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"Scarlet, can I talk to you for a moment sweetie?" Anna says. Scarlett looks up from the coloring book she had and nods, running over to her mama. She stops at her feet.

"Yes, mama?" Anna gently grabs her hand and brings her to one of the cells so they could have at least a little bit of privacy from everyone. When they are far away from the kids, she sits down on the bed and pats the spot next to her, where Scarlett sits down, her little feet hanging, waiting for her mama to say something.

"You know Daryl, right?" She nods, quickly, a huge grin on her face.

"Yeah! He always plays with me, even before all of this happened! He lived with us and-"

"Ok, ok, I know, sweetie," she says, laughing slightly. "But I want to tell you something." She waits patiently. "Daryl and mommy are together, like…" She makes the same kissy faces her daughter made that day with Daryl. Scarlett happily gasps, her eyes lighting up.

"REALLY!?" she yells, jumping up. Anna chuckles and brings her down. "You like-like him too?" She smiles at her daughter.

"Yes I do, but I want to tell you something else."

"What?" She takes a deep breath and starts to tell her, looking closely at her, making sure not to break eye contact.

"You know how you want to know who your daddy is? Who your original daddy is?" She nods.

"Uh huh," she starts. "You never told me."

"Well, I'm telling you now." She takes a shaky breath and says is. "Daryl is your daddy."

At first, she's just shocked and doesn't say anything, but then realization came over her face. "Mr. Daryl is my daddy?" she whispers, amazed. Anna smiles at the nickname. "He really is?" She nods.

"Yeah he is, sweetie." She looks down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at her mother for a moment.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she cutely asks. Anna sighs.

"I wanted to sweetie, but I didn't want to raise an suspicion or something. People always told you that in order to have a daddy your mommy had to be married, but we weren't. We thought you would be confused, and I'm sorry for not telling you." Scarlett nods, looking down again.

"He's my daddy," she whispers. Anna lets' that sink in, sitting back and examining her daughter. After a moment, the little girl looks up, a huge smile on her face. "He's my daddy!" she says, her eyes bright. "I have a daddy!" Anna quickly calms her daughter down, but laughing silently.

"Hey, you need to keep it on the downlow, ok? Don't tell anyone we're together, or some people will be chasing after mama with knives, ok?" Scarlett nods, zipping her lips, just as her older sister had done before.

"Don't want mama dead. Keep lips sealed." Anna chuckles, kissing her daughters forehead. "But can I call him daddy? Will he like it?"

"Ya can call me whatever ya want," someone says from the doorway. Both girls looks up and Daryl smiles at Anna, and then the little girl, who was looking at him with a big smile.

"You're my daddy," she says, walking up to him. He leans down in front of her to her eye level.

"Yeah, I am. I hope that's ok," he says. Her grin spreads wider and she throws her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He returns the gesture but hugging her back just as tightly.

"It's great, daddy, "she replies. Daryl smiles and looks up at Anna, who was smiling back at the scene, her heart skipping a beat when she made eye contact with Daryl. The man pulls back.

"How about ya go play with the kids again, ok? I gotta talk to your mama." She nods.

"Ok…daddy," she giggles and then runs off. Daryl smiles at the girl and turns to Anna.

"Ya told her?" She rolls her eyes.

"No she simply figured it out by herself somehow." He sits down next to her and pulls her into a kiss, her replying it just as much. She pulls back a moment later. "Daryl…what really does this mean for us?"

He simply raises an eyebrow at her and kisses her again, making her smile. She knew her answer.

**This is the quickest I have ever written a chapter, so please be forgiving for any mistakes. It's late and I'm heading to bed literally right after I post this. Thank God I have no tests tomorrow. I might not put up another chapter until Friday because I want to take my time on the next chapter because I have some great ideas. But this chapter had A LOT of family and love. I just wanted to do one scene where we see a bit more of the family value in this story. And I hopefully achieved that. Scarlett in my mind is so adorable. Hope you enjoyed! Review!**

**P.S.-It's twelve now. Two. Hours. QUICKEST TIME EVER.**


	9. Paint

**I hate math. I sincerely hate math. Take home tests take up too much time. But I'm writing this chapter now, but don't expect it to be as long as the last one. I don't know how that happened. But I will try my hardest to make it long. I want to get as much info in one chapter as possible, and I think I have been doing a good job of chat. So here's chapter 9.**

Aria was always a person to open up to people. She was someone who was optimistic about anyone, no matter what they did or said. She gave weird people a chance, mean people she was nice to, and anyone else she was ok with.

So why did Carol feel so unnerving to her?

There was something about that woman that just made shivers go up Aria's spine. She saw the way she looked at her mother, her intense glare whenever she was around Daryl. Even though she knew the lady would never have a chance with Daryl, there was something unstable about her. Something that was bound the explode ay any second.

And Aria really wanted it to end.

She wanted to walk up to her and say to back the hell off and leave her mother alone. But she couldn't do that unless she was heated. She was a coward when it came to speaking up. Only around her friends did she really say what she felt. But when it comes to women threatening her mom's happiness….

Right now, she couldn't worry about that. She was happy for once, and so was her mother.

Thw two had kept their relationship under wraps for the last two weeks, very discreetly meeting and stealing kisses in the darkness so no one would find out. "The daughters were very secretive and stayed true to their words of keeping their relationship a secret. The only person Aria had told was Carl, because she knew he would have found out sooner or later. Scarlett only called Daryl 'daddy' in private so no one would question it.

At least not yet.

The two were usually on watch together, which gave them time to talk…and other things.

That Aria would rather not think about.

She loved her mom and Daryl…but by God that image scarred her.

For LIFE.

But surprisingly, no one had found out yet about their relationship. No one questions them, asks 'What were you doing in there?' Not even Ms. Bitchy-Pants questioned it and she practically saw through everyone. But thank God she hadn't found out yet. Like her mom said, she would be after her with a knives to her throat.

But her mother would so beat her ass.

She was just that badass. After all, Daryl had trained her in practically everything.

The three girls had developed a routine in the prison, blending in with life of the survivors. Scarlett was usually with the other kids or in the small library practicing her reading. Her mother went on raids and helped defend the prison from the walkers. She also went with Daryl out into the woods to hunt for some food.

Yet again, did not want to think about that.

'FOCUS ON SOMETHING ELSE!' Aria thought. Aria had been helping out in the garden with Carl often and helped with some defending, but mostly had a lot of free time. She had washed clothes with Beth a few times, but that was the women's work she did. The rest of the time, she was usually up the ladder in the guard tower.

Whether it was rain or shine, and it had rained a little, Aria climbed the tower's steps everyday and sketched in her notebook. Daryl had even found some colored pencils for her and now her pictures had color. It was the only way she could still be her old self in this screwed up mess. The only way to really express her dreams and feelings.

The other day she had drawn some pretty nasty stuff from what she dreamed.

The first one was kind of nice, but kind of mysterious. It was a girl that seemed to be around her age, same dark brown hair, same slender body. But she was standing in a field of flowers, all of them being white, swaying in the wind. She was wearing a white gown that reached her knees. No shoes were on her feet, her toes feeling the dirt under her skin. A few strands blew.

Her arms were slightly sit, and a white Lilly dangled from her hand, so close to falling to the ground. But she was facing away from Aria. Her face wasn't visible at all. No emotion.

So she called it 'No-face.'

The next one she drew was more scary than anything else. The prison had been taken over and attacked. The fences had been knocked down and lurkers now littered the yard. A baby seat sat by itself. A tank was on fire. The whole entire building was on fire, the heat rippling through the sky and creating smoke that could last for days.

Every little detail she created. The scratches on the people's arms. The bloodmarks on the walls. The gated fence being run over.

Even though the girls had only been there for two weeks, one of her worst fears was to lose the prison. This place was a safe haven for her mother and sister. As for herself as well. The prison being destroyed.

So she called it 'Miedo,' the Spanish word for fear. Yeah, it was a little different, but she wanted to give it more of a meaning then just plain terror. This was her worst nightmare. It was truly fear.

The last one scared herself a little. She was scared to even draw it at first because the image in her dream pained her enough. It was a forest, all black and gloomy, not a speck of sunshine for miles on end. An older woman, probably a teenager or a young adult, was cradling a small body that was a child. More precisely, a girl.

The way the woman held the dead child with so much regret and sorrow scared the shit out of Aria. It was so real. It felt like it would happen. Her heart beat faster just thinking about that picture.

So she called it 'Terrifiant,' which was the french word for terrifying.

Oh, she loved Europe. One of her dreams was to go there and see the sights. She was fluent in Spanish and French, and wanted to go to Paris and Spain so badly. They were her life dreams.

Now they were probably just ruins.

She had started to decorate the cell she and her sister had with all the drawings they made. Scarlett was a little artist, and she insisted that Aria hang up hers as well. It was only fair. Now, a quarter of the wall was covered in drawings, the girl with flower in the middle.

She always questioned who that girl was, because she knew that it wasn't just some random girl. This had meaning and she was going to find out.

But now it was a few days later and she was lying on her bed while reading one of her favorite books,' The Hunger Games.' She loved this book.

It had actually helped her in this world. Sure, it was very different from the actual storyline in the book, as in they were being chased by waling corpses and not kids. The people were trying to eat them, and they don't care if they kill you or not.

She had always wanted to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. Katniss was so badass with it. She wanted to be just like her, but all she needed to do was learn how to use one of those. She places the book down and thinks for a second.

'Maybe Daryl knows how to use one…I wonder how different a crossbow is from a bow and arrow…that would be cool to learn just as much.'

She walks over to one of the corners and raids through the boxes she had. They had been collecting stuff from around and from stores that they could use to entertain. She takes out a giant sketchpad and opens it up, examining the paintings inside. One was a watercolor lily, another was a pastel night scene, and one other was an acrylic tree being struck by lightening.

She goes deeper and pulls out a bag that has a brush inside and paints, all sorts of colors. She had found them the other day in one of the old drawers. Maybe they were for investigation purposes before all this.

A piece of cardboard was in her hands and she placed some paint on it, mixing some together to make a different kind of color. She leans the sketchpad against the desk and dips the brush into the paint. Thinking for a moment, she places the brush on the canvas and begins her creation.

She had wanted to paint this ever since she started to read the trilogy. She loved the Hunger Games books and this was what she wanted to do one day.

She didn't know how long she sat there, painting her scene, but when she was done, she was positive that her face was covered in paint and her hair was gone from its ponytail, hanging on the sides of her face. When she's done, she leans back and examines the painting, smiling slightly.

It wasn't even that amazing. It was a blue sky that peeked through a canopy or trees, a few white clouds popping out. She had imagined this when Katniss was lying down with Rue when she was killed. Even though it was a sad day, it was at least still pretty outside.

That was more or less how she felt half the time.

She wipes her face again, sighing. She had wanted so many things. She was on her way, to being this big star, the next artist, maybe the next big time woman director. She wanted to make people look at her and say 'Wow, she is pretty good with that painting. She'll be the next big Picasso. Only the female version.'

She wanted that so badly.

Now, all she wanted was to stay alive.

"Aria?" she hears from the doorway. Ari looks up and finds Daryl leaning against the cell door. When he sees her face, he snickers slightly. "Ya got something on your face, there," he says, pointing to his cheek. She rolls her eyes and looks back at the painting.

"Ha, ha," she says sarcastically. He steps in and stops at the sight of the sketches on the walls.

"Forgot ya knew how to draw like this," he says. She shrugs.

"I just took lessons." He snorts.

"Ya draw better than any kid I have ever met. Better then a grown man. Lord knows that I can't draw for shit." She chuckles.

"Do have like a rag or something? I could really use it." He takes out one from his pocket and hands one to her. She takes it gratefully and wipes her face. When she takes it off, it's covered in red paint, cauding her cheeks to turn red. "Sorry about that," she mumbles. He shakes his head.

"Keep it. I see ya paint and ya always get it on your face. Ya need it." She nods.

"Thanks." She places the painting on her desk as he continues to look at the sketches.

"These are really good, Ari," he says. She smiles, embarrassed slightly. "If the world wasn't like this, I'm pretty sure these would be famous."

"Well, I doubt that," she says, facing him. "I'm only 15, but maybe in a few years I could somehow get it in a museum. That would be amazing." He nods and looks at her.

"Came here to tell ya your Mom went out on a quick raid with Maggie. They found this clothes shop a few days ago and wanted to get some new clothes. Girls day out, I guess," he says, snickering slightly at the end.

There was a six year age gap between the two girls, but both had become close in the past two weeks. Anna was like the older sister Maggie never had. That means Anna drove her crazy slightly, but it was usually just for fun. Both bonded over one thing: Harry Potter.

"Probably to pick up a Gryffindor t-shirt," Aria laughs. He smiles.

"She was obsessed with that series. Still loves it?" Aria snorts.

"With a passion." She's silent for a second before asking something that was on her mind. "Daryl, if I was to find a crossbow would you teach me how to use it?" He looks at her, surprise written all over his face. He raises an eyebrow.

"Ya want to learn how to use a crossbow? Are ya sure your arms can handle that much weight?" She scoffs, rolling her eyes.

"If I can carry my 50 pound sister, I can carry a crossbow. I'm a dancer. The muscles are in my legs." He chuckles.

"Ya are just like your mom," he snickers. She nods.

"Yeah," she laughs. "It's scary." She sits down on the bed and takes a deep breath. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" she asks.

"Ya just did," he says. She rolls her eyes and continues on.

"Now don't be quick to judge because I've seen this way before all of this so don't interrupt me." He nods slightly and chuckles.

"What's so important?" She takes another deep breath and looks up at him.

"Before you were called down to help your brother, were you going to ask my mom to marry you?" He's silent for a second, looking down at the ground, before nodding, looking back up.

"Don't tell her," he says quickly. She chuckles.

"I won't. But tell me everything, please? I'm DYING to know!" He rolls his eyes.

"Ya are such a girl," he mumbles. "I was…had the ring and everything." He sits down next to her on the bed. "And I really wanted to. But then he called and I had to come down to help, and I still regret it so much. Now, it's just so complicated." She thinks for a second.

"You basically are married now, you know that, right?" she says. He raises an eyebrow at her.

"What do ya mean by that?" She shrugs.

"Just from what I've seen. You two share a cell now, discreetly of course, but it's still something. You are always together when she's here, and you've already had a kid together, who loves both of you very much. Scarlett calls you 'daddy.' Who needs a ring?" she says. He chuckles. She leans against his side. "You were basically my dad, always around when I was a kid. And if you were to somehow get married in this world, I'd be happy, and so would Scarlett, and obviously my mother."

"Ya really think that?" he says, looking down at her. She smiles.

"Why wouldn't I?" She moves her head to look at him fully. "Plus, if you teach me how to use a crossbow, you'll have extra brownie points from me." He chuckles again. "Really, Daryl. I mean it. My mother loves you, and so do Scarlett and I. Especially when you always brought back a dirty water dog to the apartment when my mother didn't know. I'd give anything for one of those now," she mumbles.

"Maybe I'll find some and we can boil 'em over some water. How does that sound?" he says. She smiles at him.

"Sounds like a plan."

(**WDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDDWWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWD)**

Anna stares at the stuff she had picked up from the department store, specifically a DVD that made her smile. It brought back some good memories to her.

"_No, I am not seeing a horror movie tonight," Anna laughs, shaking her head. Daryl comes on front of her, a pleading look on his face. _

"_Come on, Anna. Ya haven't gone out in forever, and I heard this movie is good." She shakes her head._

"_I have a rehearsal tomorrow morning, Daryl. I have to get to sleep tonight. And seeing Paranormal Activity will completely scare the shit out of me." He rolls his eyes. _

"_Anna, no demon is going to get ya, as long as I'm there." She snorts._

"_That's probably what the main dude says in the film! Before he gets possessed and kills his girlfriend!" She takes her book and places it back in the bookcase, walking over to the kitchen. "This is just an excuse for you to put your arms around me." _

"_Nevermind that," he says, waving his hand, causing Anna to roll her eyes. "Aria could watch Scarlett while we go out. Come on…ya know ya want to," he says, poking her side, knowing she'd squirm. She jumps back glaring at him._

"_No means n-" He stops her mid sentence and places his lips on her, effectively silencing her. She sighs into the kiss and kisses back, her arms going around his neck. Maybe she did need a day to relax. _

_When he pulls back, he's waiting for an answer, but basically already knew. She sighs. "Fine! We'll go see the movie," she grumbles. He smiles and pecks her on the lips one more time before pulling back. "But If I'm like the demon in the morning from the movie, I'm coming after you," she growls. He chuckles._

"_Come and get me, princess," he says, winking at her. Her face reddens and she looks down._

"_Why do you always have to make things so sexual?" she mumbles. He chuckles._

"_Because it's fun to see you squirm, in a cute way, of course." She sticks her tongue out at him and he grins. "Better put that away before I take over." She growls, throwing her hands up in the air. _

"_You're impossible, Dixon." He laughs, taking her hand._

"_But ya love me." She rolls her eyes._

"_Yeah, I do," and she leans in and kisses him again on the lips, smiling a little._

She chuckles slightly at the memory, picking up the DVD case. She wished she had a DVD played to watch it. This movie was one of the very few they saw that year. She had been so busy. That asshole was fired, so now they had a new director. SHE was so much nicer, and thank God it was a girl, but just as hard working, if not, more.

But, that director really did it just to piss her off sometimes. After all, the director was her life long friend, Lily.

She wondered if she was still alive. She knew Daryl was ok, and she had a feeling Joey and Shane were surviving. But Lily was a different story. She might be ok, but if she was, she was probably hiding out in a house with her girl, Dana.

Yeah, she was gay, too.

But that's what you get when you become friends with a bunch of theater geeks. Anna seemed to be the only person who didn't head in that direction. She still remembered when she told her, and she was AMAZED. She had dated so many guys, but it was just something to cover up the gayness. But Anna didn't care. She still loved her none-the-less.

All of them were gay. Lily, Joey, Marcus and Tyler were together, then there was Ian and Anthony. They were all gay.

And she still wondered if they were still alive.

She shook her head and put the DVD down, then picked up the t-shirt she had picked up when she hears Carol behind her.

"You having fun?" she hisses. Anna turns around and glares at the woman.

"What the hell is your problem with me?" she says. "I can't help it if Daryl cares about me, so just shut up and go away!" She turns back to the bed to unload the rest of her clothes but Carol comes in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "What do you want?" Anna growls.

"Rick shouldn't have let you in. I knew you were nothing but trouble when you came. Now, everyone's off track because of you, and Daryl is-"

"You know what? SHUT UP!" she yells at Carol, who steps back slightly at the loudness in her voice. Anna glares at her, devils eyes. If it was a cartoon, her eyes would be a dark red. "I get it. You wanted Daryl all for yourself because he looked the hardest for your child. But that's not what's happening now. You may have thought you could be with him because of 'everything you've been through,'" she mocks. "But guess what? I'VE been through a shit ton more of stuff with that man then you," she says, poking her in the chest.

"You think you're some tough bitch, don't you?" she hisses. Anna smirks evilly.

"Yeah, I am. I was taught _by Daryl._ And you know what? We're together. WE. ARE. TOGETHER. We are happy. He is happy. Let him go! He is mine and not yours. He. Never. Will. Be. So just shut that ungodly, lopsided mouth of yours and leave us the fuck alone!"

"He loves me," she hisses back. Anna snorts.

"NO HE DOESN'T!" she yells, all up in her face now. "And you want to know why? You know Scarlett? Yeah, that's _his_ kid. He and I did it and made _her."_ Her eyes wide at that, backing away slightly. "Yeah, that's right. He's _mine_. _Not yours. _Now get the hell out of my cell," she growls.

Carol glares at her for a minute before pushing her up into the wall, surprising Anna. Her back hits a bump in the wall and she groans in pain, but Carol come forward and attempts to take the knife on the table and hurt her.

"GET AWAY FROM MY MAMA!" someone screamed from the doorway. Carol gets distracted and Anna pushes her off. Scarlett was standing at the doorway, a gun in fumbling in her hand, tears streaming down her face.

"It's ok, sweetie. Just stay there," Anna says, glaring at Carol. A moment later Daryl comes with his crossbow pointed, but stops when he sees's Scarlett with a gun. He leans down next to her and takes the gun and notices the tears streaming down her face. He looks to the two woman, first Anna, then Carol.

He sees the dirt and the few cuts Carol had managed to get on Anna, and then sees Carol with the knife. His eyes narrow. "What the hell happened, Anna?"

(**WDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDDWWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWD)**

"Daryl, what did you do that caused her to want you so much?" Anna says later in the night, putting on a long sleeve shirt to cover up her now bandaged cuts. He sighs.

"Her kid got lost in the woods and I was one of the only people looking for her, but the only reason why I looked was because I felt bad. Also, the memory of losin' Scarlett in Central Park came back to me," he says, cringing slightly. She chuckles.

"Only for like a few minutes though…did you look really hard or something?" she asks. He nods.

"Harder than anyone else, all because I felt bad. I mean, this was a twelve year old kid alone in an apocalypse and she wouldn't last a day by herself. But I never looked for her because I was madly in love with her or something like that." He places his head in his hands. "She was my friend. She was the first person in this group to even give a shit about me. Now…"

"She's stalking you and watching you in your sleep?" He looks at her confused. "She's probably done that, and you know it." He groans. "What're we gonna do with her?" she asks.

"I don't know…I'll talk with Rick in the morning…but right now-" She closes him off with a kiss, to which he replies happily. When she pulls back, she sighs.

"I kind of let it go that Scarlett was our daughter," she sighs. He rolls his eyes.

"So? She tells the whole prison. I think they've all guessed by now." She chuckles, nodding, but a yawn comes out a moment later. "Tired?" She nods, her eyes dropping slightly. He snickers. "Head to sleep," he says, letting her fall down on the mattress.

"Are you sure?" she says. He smiles and kisses her lightly.

"I'll be fine. Get to sleep. Yer no use when yer tired," he jokes. She snorts and turns over.

"Classy," she mumbles, before falling into a deep slumber.

Meanwhile, in a not too far away, Scarlett hops out of her bed and walks over to Carol's cell. She knocks on the door, sweetly. The woman wakes up suddenly, hitting her head on the bed above her. She stares at the young girl for a second before saying anything.

"Scarlett?" she questions. The girls nods, coming closer, her hands behind her back.

"Why did you hurt my mommy?" she asks, stepping up on a chair to be at her eyelevel. Carol looks down.

"I was just mad, ok? It happens to everyone every once and while. No hard feelings, right?" The little girl is silent for a second before nodding. "Ok, then go back to your cell." The girl stays put, hands behind her back. "Scarlett, go back to your cell."

She suddenly latches out her hand and covers Carol's mouth with her hand, scaring Carol. And suddenly, the girl takes out a gun from the back of her pants, pointing it at the woman. She falls silent, eyes wide, staring at the gun.

"Look at me," the girl says. The woman slowly looks over, scared for her life. This was a six year old with her hand on the trigger. "Mommy and daddy are together now and we are very happy. You hurt my mama one more time and I will kill you in your sleep, got it?" she whispers evilly. The woman nods.

The little girl smiles and takes her hand off. "Good. Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bight!" She skips out of the cell, scaring the hell out of the woman. Scarlett smiles wider. Her mommy and daddy would be happy. And no one was going to get in the way of it.

**SCARLETTS A MINI BADASS! XD She's learned well from her father, hasn't she? I thought that Scarlett needed to say something, because these were her parents she's talking about. She didn't want Carol as a stepmom. Who does? XD Definitely not me. Hope you enjoyed! Review!**

**~Ali**


	10. Storytime

**Three day weekend! So excited! I've made it through two weeks from no days off from school and I finally have a three day weekend. THANK GOD! And I saw the new 'trailer' for walking dead. THIRTY SECONDS IS NOT A TRAILER AMC! By the way, this chapter is probably going to be just a bit shorter, maybe. I'm not planning on writing over 3500 words, since my last chapter had the most I've ever written, so don't automatically expect a 4000 word chapter. And I finally felt confident taking a test today! All FIVE OF THEM. -_- Now, on with the story.**

The heat was unbearable one day in the prison, so everyone was trying their best to stay cool. Most of everyone was inside their cell, doing something other than being outside. Some were sleeping, some were reading, some were just fanning their hands in front of their faces trying to feel a cool breeze touch their skin.

Except Aria.

Nope, she was outside in the heat, embracing it with open arms. She was wearing some black shorts and a white tank top with some converse she had found a while back. A NY Yankee's ballcap was on her head, shielding her eyes from the sun. She sat in the yard, where there actually was some grass, and faced the horizon, sketchpad in arms.

Aria had never been one to be fazed my weather. She didn't really feel it. She could easily go out in nothing but jeans and a long sleeve shirt in 0 degree weather and not feel cold, or wear a shit ton of winter supplies in the summer and not feel hot. She barely sweat, which at first she thought was a medical problem, but she had grown used to it.

Maybe she had, like, weird powers or something. She could create weather and that's why she wasn't affected. No, those were childhood dreams.

She was one of the only girls in the world probably that wanted to be a superhero when she was little. Nothing else. At least not until she was older.

She hadn't wanted to be a princess, a singer, an author, nope. Nothing like that. She wanted to be a superhero. Like Batman, or Spiderman. Maybe even Wonder Women. Or Catwoman.

She loved Catwoman.

She was the epitome of a badass, next to her mother and Daryl.

And plus, she was basically Batman's love interest in almost all the comics. Who would not want to be Batman's lover? 'I bet he's amazing in the sack,' Aria thinks, snickering to herself.

She had collected comics.

That was actually one of her favorite past times. She loved reading them. It was a hobby. Her favorite were obviously Batman, Spiderman, Ironman, Superman, and any other thing that had the word man in it. She also liked these zombie comics. But now she was living what seemed to be the life in those comics. And she wasn't liking it all that much.

Granted, her mother and Daryl were together now, but she still didn't like it.

Sometimes, when she was younger, she thought she was a lesbian. So did others, too. Because she was so different from others. She wasn't like those girls who put on pounds of makeup in the morning to impress a single guy at school. She simply brushed her hair and went. The only time she ever put on makeup was for a show.

She read books instead of wrote them. She wrote songs instead of just singing them. She read comics instead of books that shall not be named which suck. She was different. And she liked it. And yet again, that's what made her think she was gay…

And then Billy came around.

Billy. She was one of her best guy friends. He had been the one that assured her she was most DEFENITLY into guys. He was just so darn handsome! He had white teeth, physic to love, and the most beautiful singing voice. He was a year older then her, but he was just so nice to her on the first day of elementary school that they became friends.

Now, he was gone.

She had seen him get eaten. Before they even came down. They were in school. It was a bright sunny day. A field trip to Long Island, and it was time to relax.

"_Do you even think that we'll make it on Broadway?" he asks. Ari chuckles, shrugging her shoulders, laying down on the green grass while the younger kids they brought played on the playground nearby._

"_We've already been on Broadway, Billly," she says. He rolls his eyes, shaking his head._

"_Not like that! I mean a star role. Like, TONY AWARD winning role. Best actor or actress in a musical! It would be fantastic. I would love for that to happen." She snorts._

"_And so does every Broadway wannabe. We've actually already seen the ropes of Broadway. We have experience. That's something the directors look for. Just be thankful we have that. Some people barely have anything on their resumes. We're lucky we have something." He nods._

"_I wish this place had a bathroom." He gets up. I'm heading to the woods." Aria makes a disgusted face._

"_Have fun," she says, looking away. He snickers and walks into the bushes leading out to the woods to go do his business, leaving her alone with her thoughts._

_Billy had been with her through a lot. She was sad that he was graduating a year early before he in two years, but she would have to deal with it then. After all, both planned on attending Julliard. They both had parents on Broadway, so it wouldn't be that hard really to get in._

_She closes her eyes and smells the fresh air blowing against her face. The smell on hotdogs penetrating her nose made her smile. I was officially summer, and someone was having a barbque to celebrate. She wished she could do that in her apartment, but their barbeque had been broken for ages. Now, it was usually just dirty water dogs off the hotdog carts. Not that she minded. She wasn't even allowed to have them when she was younger. _

_A sudden scream alerts her and sprints up towards the woods. She knew that voice. Billy._

_She runs through the trees, searching frantically for her friend. She finds him, she places her hand over her mouth, tears coming to her eyes. _

_Billy was dead, and…something was eating his insides._

_It looked like it was a zombie. Or something of that nature. _

_But…she thought they were fake…right?!_

_The creature turns to her and drops the intestines in his hands, coming for her now. She had nothing to defend herself with, so she kept backing up until she was near the edge of a cliff, far enough that she could knock this thing off…whatever it was._

"_Come here," she whispers, tears now streaming down her face. Billy was gone. Her old friend was now gone. "Come here, I'm very tasty."_

_The…lurker, that's what she'll call them, came forward and tried to snatch her arm to bite, but she quickly moved and pushed it's back, sending it over the cliff to the streets below. She turns back to Billy's body and takes a sharp breath._

_He was gone._

_Wait, but didn't zombies come back from the dead?_

_She walked over and kneeled down next to him, placing her hand on the side of his face. His eyes were still open, but now lifeless and dull, unlike the one's she had seen just moments earlier. His body was torn open._

_She takes a deep sigh and closes the eyes with her hand, knowing that this was going to haunt her in her dreams. Getting up, she feels something pinching into her pocket and reaches in. She pulls out a pocketknife._

_So she did have something to defend herself with!_

_She looks back at Billy and looks at the knife. Walking over, looking away as she did so, she sunk the knife deep into hi forehead. She had read this. To prevent them from coming back, it had to be the head. So that's what she did._

_After the deed was done, she sprung up and ran back to the site as fast as possible. When she got there, she collapsed on the ground, tears running down her face. The teachers who had come gathered around her and asked what was wrong, but she couldn't speak. She just cries and points to the forest, the memory of Billy's torn and dead body playing over and over in her head._

The memory still stung her with every single possible fiber in her being. She had drawn that picture as well. She had drawn everything she's seen.

Now, she was drawing just the forest where the sun was beginning to descend. It was around three o clock, so it was past the incredibly hot period time of day, but it was still blazing.

Still didn't faze her.

She wondered where exactly her mother and Scarlett were. She was worried about her around Carol. Scarlett had told her about her little run in with Carol, and personally, she thought her sister was bad ass. Her six year old sister. She was pretty brave.

Then her mother told her about what happened between her and Carol and Aria just didn't understand this woman. Was she blind? It was obvious Anna and Daryl are in love, just by the way they look at each other now. Everyone knew.

So why wasn't she getting the hint?

It had been about a month after the incident, and there had been none such incidents like that since, but Carol was still always glaring at her mother, making snide remarks. Always.

Honestly, Aria wanted to just walk right up to her and punch her lesbian looking face in. I think her mother did as well, cause whenever she was around her, she would clench her fists as if she was trying to resist smacking that stupid look of Carol's face.

Daryl seemed on the verge of losing it, too. Carol was always trying to say something about Anna to Daryl that would make him somehow not love her anymore. Could this bitch get anymore stupid?

I mean, come on!

Scarlett was always around her mother, making sure Carol didn't hurt her. Aria knew she meant what she had said. Usually, when a child says their running away or not eating their food, they don't really mean it and don't end up doing it.

But with Scarlett…she meant everything. She was from the smackahoe Indian tribe, and she wasn't afraid to smack-a-hoe.

Or kill one if that meant protecting her family.

She didn't even know her little sister knew how to USE a gun. She didn't think her mother taught her, but she guessed she did when Aria didn't notice.

Her pencil shaded in the shadow of one of the tree's trying to make it as dark as possible. She sighs as she messes up again and erases the lines, starting over on it.

Sometimes she compared herself to things, like a tree. She started out as a small little girl in this world, just like a little seed is planted in the ground, waiting to burst. But now, she was a brave girl, ready to fight anything and everything to stay alive, just like a tree grew up into a huge green plant, hard and ready to face Mother Nature.

'I think everyone is like that now,' she chuckles to herself. She continues to draw when she hears small footsteps approach her. She looks up and sees Scarlett with her little notebook and a box of crayons. Aria smiles at her younger sister.

"Hey, sis," she says. "Sit on down," she says, patting the patch of dirt next to her. Without hesitation, the child sits down and opens her notebook, beginning to color alongside her sister.

"I don't like Carol," she says, showing Aria the drawing she had completed before she came out. Aria raises an eyebrow at the demented mind of the six year old. It was Carol, hanging from the bedpost she slept in. Aria looks at her sister, a questioning look on her face. "She's trying to kill mommy so she can have daddy," she says, going back to the drawing.

Aria chuckles. "That's not happening any time soon, Scar," she says. "Probably never." She ruffles the kids head, who giggles in response.

The two sit in silence, each drawing their pictures. Of course, Aria's had more detail and accuracy then the little girl's but the crayon drawings were actually pretty good. Aria's favorite was the one of herself in the field. She probably drew that before she came out.

Aria looks over and notices the attire on the girl. She's wearing a t-shirt that said 'Scarlet: World's Greatest Kid,' some Capri pants, and something she hadn't seen in forever. Flip flops.

"Where did you get the flipflops, Scar?" she asks. Scarlett shrugs.

"Mama got them for me. Her and Mwaggie are going out to get some food in a while. They may have left." Aria nods. She had gotten used to her mother leaving for raids. She understood they needed to get out. But half the time she wondered if they just talked half the time. They were women after all.

"Let me see you're drawing," Aria says, peering over. Scarlett hands her the notebook and she stares at it, an amused look on her face. It was Scarlett with her hand out, but something was coming out of it. Snow, or some sort of powers.

"That's interesting," Aria chuckles. "Where did you get that from?"

"Myself."

"What do you mean yourself?" Aria asks, confused now. Scarlett smiles.

"Wanna see something?"

* * *

Anna and Maggie drove to the local department store to fetch the supplies that they needed, but on the way they talked like they were two teenagers in highschool.

"So, you're engaged to Glenn," Anna starts. "You seem to love him very much. But the real question is…how good is he in the sack?" Maggie burst out laughing gripping a big tighter onto the steering wheel. Anna starts to laugh too. "What? It's a serious question!" she laughs.

Maggie calms down enough to look at Anna with a bright grin on her face. "And why do you need to know that?" she chuckles. Anna shrugs, a grin on her face as well.

"Just thought I should know how good he is because I hear you two from a mile away," she chuckles, then staring to mimic the moans Maggie makes. Maggie groans and pushes Anna's shoulder, making her laugh, but she still continued on with the mocking. " 'Oh…oh…oh, Glenn…shit….oh…' " Maggie growls and turns fully to look at her.

"Stop!" she whines like a kid. Anna laughs, shaking her head.

"Fine…but you have to answer the question."

"Anna!"

"I'll keep going," she sang, twirling a piece of hair from her ponytail. Maggie looks back to the road and sighs, a slight grin coming over her face as she sighed in defeat.

"At first, he was…inexperienced. Very inexperienced. But now he's…pretty good." Anna laughs.

"'Pretty Good?' From the sound of your moans, it sounds more than 'pretty good!'" she yells. "It sounds like you get fucked by Jesus himself!" Maggie's face reddens as she snickers at that comment.

"Well, he's not Jesus, that's for sure. But he'll do. I do love him. Really. But he ain't Jesus." They turn quickly and are in front of the Target that they had found days prior. The mall wasn't the only place that had good shit now. They pull into a parking spot at the front and get out of the car. Anna pulls out her knife and Maggie hers. Guns just attract the sound. Knives were much better.

"You got the list?" Anna asks. Maggie nods, stepping into the open Target.

"Yeah," she says, tearing the list in half. "You get this stuff and I'll get the other?" Anna nods, both heading off in other directions. But both could hear each other from the other sides. It was as quiet as a snow storm, like the falling powder falling silently onto the ground.

Anna walks over to the food section and starts to pick out the food on the list, while grabbing a few items for herself and her family on the side. Maggie speaks from the clothing section.

"You know, I heard you grew up in the south. How come you have, like, no accent?" Anna chuckles.

"I did have one, but it kind of slipped away when I moved to New York for college. It still comes around every once and a while, though. Even though I've lived in New York for the past 12 years, I'm still a southerner at heart. One thing I missed was riding horses. I had one named Lila, and she was a fast one. I used to take her out on the fields and ride her for hours on end. When I wanted to get away from my house, I would take her out and ride her. My house was literally right near the fields, so I could just take her and go. I loved her."

"She gone?" she asks. Anna nods sadly.

"Passed away when I was 23," she says sadly. "But was with me since I was born. She was a close friend even though she was an animal," she says, chuckling slightly at the end. "I remember on some days after school, when my parents weren't home, I'd take Daryl with me back to my house and we'd ride the horses for hours. Lila loved him too. All my animals seemed to love him."

On the opposite side of the store, Maggie smirks to herself. "Ok, I've told you about Glenn, how about you tell me about you and Daryl? Maybe a little on your history." Anna chuckles nervously.

"There's nothing to tell," she says quickly. "He's been my friend for twenty years, been through a lot." Maggie snorts.

"Bullshit. It is so obvious you guys are in love. Everyone sees it. Including your own kids," she says. Anna chuckles.

"I do love him, just-"

"Not like that?" she says, mocking her words. "Still bullshit. You share a cell, I've seen you asleep in his arms. He's never like that with anyone, so tell me, what it up with you and Daryl?" Anna sighs and picks out the last of the food.

"Give me a minute." She places the food in her bag and takes a big swing of water. Putting it away, she walks over to the hygiene department to find Maggie looking at the medicine. Some of the kids had colds. They needed some cough medicine. "You really want to know?" she asks. Maggie nods.

"Yeah, I do," she says, her southern accent coming out. Ana sighs and rubs the back of her head slightly, causing Maggie to chuckle. Anna looks up with a raised eyebrow. "You even have the same hand gestures as him." The older girl chuckles.

"Yeah, I guess I do." She takes a deep breath and looks Maggie in the eyes. "Ok, so I met him in 4th grade, and we automatically became friends. Over the next five years, we became super close. We went to high school together and did almost everything-"

"Wait, isn't he like, five years older then you?" Maggie asks.

"He was left back a few times. I'm what kept him on track. The difference between me and a tutor was that he actually listened to me and did well in school. So the next few years, we became close. He was like one of the best friends I'd ever had. Then, the week after I turned fifteen…i…uh," she struggles, trying to get it out.

"What?" Maggie asks, genuinely concerned.

"I went to a party that this senior was having and it as fun…but the dude…he….I was raped." Maggie gasps, a hand going over her mouth. "And got pregnant with Ari. Daryl was the first person I told and he was just so…supportive. He wasn't even my boyfriend and I had no clue what to think. He was the person who told me not to go to party. But when it was my stupid mistake, he was actually there for me.

"So over the next nine months he helped me a lot, as did my parents, of course, but Daryl was the best. When Aria was born, he took care of her sometimes. He's so good with kids," she says, blushing slightly. "So good. The next few years passed and we got even closer, if possible. He and Aria were basically best friends by now. Then, I had college.

"When I told him I got accepted into NYU, he was mad at first, but then just sad and pissed off that he couldn't come with me and just…everything. I said I would talk to him all the time and we did. Aria stayed with my mother, and I talked to her everyday. The two people I loved the most I couldn't be near.

"So, in my sophomore year, I started to run everyday. I had an apartment by then because I couldn't stand the NYU dorms. I was running through the rain one day and stopped to get a bottle of water when I felt something pull on my leg, and I look down and there's Aria. I was so surprised forgot to pay for the water. I took her up in my arms and kissed her. And then I turned around and saw Daryl. He had actually come to New York, somehow, so he could see me.

"So, since I had flexible classes, Aria stayed with me, as did Daryl. And life started then. He became my roommate and took care of Aria when I was at classes. My mother was loaded, so we didn't have to worry about money or shit. He was always amazed that a rich girl like me could go for a hick like him. But I never cared.

"So after college, I already started to be in musicals. I was the original Wicked Witch in Wicked."

"No shit?" she asks. Anna nods, smiling.

"Yup. Then I got into another show that had a very bad director. Very bad and mean. And one day, _he tried to rape me._" Maggie's eyes widened.

"Really?" she asks. Anna nods. "They better be dead now."

"Yup, but I threatened him and he backed off. When I came home, Daryl was there, taking care of Aria. At this point, we were very close, and were about one step from tearing each other's clothes. So…when I came home, he comforted me, and…we had sex." Maggie grins.

"I knew it!" she says. Anna chuckles.

"Yes, we had sex, but…uh, that's what brought us Scarlett." Her eyes widen again.

"Scarlett's Daryl's kid?" she asks. Anna smiles wide, nodding. "He's a dad?" she asks, even more amazed. Anna looks down, laughing.

"Yeah, he is. And after I told him, of course he was around. And that's obviously when we started a relationship. So for three years, we were happily together and…in love," she says, sighing dreamily. Maggie chuckles.

"So what happened?" Anna snorts.

"We never really broke up, I was just mad at him. He left for a while to go take care of his dying father, who was nothing but an ass to him. Also to help his brother. I hadn't seen him for two years. We kept in contact all the time, but it just wasn't the same as waking up to him with his arms around me."

"That's a pretty stupid decision," Maggie comments. "Merle was an asshole." Anna laughs.

"I agree. But when all this happened, we decided to head down south and see what happened to my old house. And it was gone. So for the next year, we survived and lived. I taught my daughters how survive, and then Daryl found us."

"So are you two together?" Anna is silent for a second before nodding.

"We made up when we went to the mall. And…uh…" Anna's cheeks blush, and Maggie knew exactly what that means. She gasps, laughing slightly.

"You are on fire, aren't you?" she says. Anna smiles slightly.

"So we are together now, just haven't told really anyone. The only person who knows is Carl and that's because he and Ari talk a lot." The younger girl looks at her confused.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Anna groans.

"Because Carol," she simply says. "This woman wants to _kill me_ because I am with him. She found out just because I was in his cell that he stayed in. She _tried to kill me_ a month ago."

"She did?" she asks, her arms crossing over her chest.

"Yeah! She did, she cut my arms, but nothing else, because my SIX YEAR OLD DAUGHTER came to the rescue with a gun in her hand," she says, laughing bitterly. "That's why I wore long sleeve shirts for a while. But all I know is that she wants Daryl to herself even though, as you said, it's plain that he like me." Maggie nods.

"And why is that crazy bitch still at the prison?" she asks. Anna laughs. "Anna, we need to tell Rick and the council. This is bad." Anna nods.

"I want to, but-"

"But nothing. We don't need you dying because of some woman who wants your man. We're talking to them when we get back." Anna smiles at her friend.

"You're so awesome, do people tell you that?" Maggie laughs.

"Like I said, not letting you die over Carol. I thought she was good. I didn't know she would go crazy over Daryl being with someone. I thought they were friends."

"Daryl thinks this, but apparently not in Carol's demented mind." Maggie nods.

"So…how many times have you had sex since?" Anna groans.

"Maggie!" The girl laughs.

"Ok, I'm sorry, let's head back." The two walk to the car and hop into the seats. Maggie starts up the engine and starts to drive. Anna is silent for a few minutes before speaking.

"Five times," Anna mumbles. Maggie laughs, causing Anna's cheeks to turn red from embarrassment and memories. This girl would be the death of her.

**Ok, this was longer then I thought It was going to be. Way longer. Holy shit. XD Anna and Maggie are literally turning into best friends just by having these conversations. It was so much fun to write. I might get a chapter up tomorrow, but it's a three day weekend, so there's a big possibility that there will be. But I need to sleep. XD Hope you enjoyed! Review!**


	11. Words

**So last night at like, 12 at night, I was watching the ABC family movie 'Cyberbully,' and I have never cried so much at just one segment during a movie then one on that movie. I'm surprised I didn't wale up my parents with my crying. I never thought an ABC family movie would make me shed a tear, let alone a million. Now, what I'm doing in this memory was planned since the beginning, but watching the movie really gave me more depth to go with it. Before it was going to be short, but now it's going to be a little longer then it was originally planned. I'm looking forward to writing this chapter. Especially when I get out of the memory. This will be fun ;)**

**And if you want to watch the movie, I found it on youtube. It's actually really good, in my opinion. Since I kind of went through what the girl went through a few years ago, it hit me hard. It's an hour and a half, but so worth it: watch?v=shnAPc3wYbA**

**Now, on with the chapter.**

_Anna handles phone in her hand, looking out her window. Aria was sleeping in her room, not knowing what her mother was thinking of doing. She stares back at the laptop on her bed and the phone in her hand. Thinking quickly, she drops the phone and runs over to the laptop, smiling._

_Her mother told her never to get involved with chat rooms, but it was just too appealing. She opened up a private messaging and typed in Lily Beckor. It popped up and she typed something in._

_**AnnaW-**__**Hey Lily!**_

_It takes a while to reply, but Lily eventually does._

_**LilyBec-You finally got a laptop, huh?**_

_Anna types back excited. Her mother had gotten her one._

_**AnnaW-**__**Yeah! When my mom came back from her meeting, she got me one! I'm so excited to have this! They seem so cool! I never imagined something like this would happen in technology.**_

_The two talked for a while, and then Lily brought up school, making Anna cringe._

_**LilyBec- You're heading back to school this year. You haven't been there for three years and rumors have spread. Daryl and I have tried to stomp them, but they just keep coming. You need to be prepared for these kinds of things. Especially in the chat room.**_

_Anna sighs and looks over to the set backpack to go back to school. She had been nervous about it, but this was her senior year. She had to go back. She was going to go back in sophomore year, but she wanted to raise her baby correctly. Now, Aria was heading off to preschool and Anna was going to complete her senior year. She types back._

_**AnnaW-**__**I know that. Daryl's told me everything. But I need to do this and face everyone. If I don't, I'll just be a coward. I don't want to be a coward. Tell them the truth. I need too.**_

_The girl takes a while to type back._

_**LilyBec- I hope you know what the hell your doing, Annabelle.**_

_Anna doesn't type back. She needed to be ready for what was about to happen. Jack was still in the school because he was left back. She had met him earlier this summer before her 18__th__ birthday, but this was real. She needed to do this. _

_**Four Months Later-December**_

_Anna gingerly closed her locker and walked as fast as she could down the deserted hallway before anyone could see her. Everyone was in class right now, which meant no one there to torture her. No one there to ridicule her._

_As soon as she walked into the school the first day, she was met with stares, gossip, and cruel, cruel words. Everyone thought she was a slut. A whore. Dirty. No one seemed to like her anymore. All her old friends besides Lily, Joey, and Daryl had abandoned her and fallen victim to the rumors, even joined in sometimes and poking fun at her. _

_Everyone laughed at her._

_She wasn't the girl she used to be. She didn't look like other girls. She had turned kind of tomboyish in the past year. She didn't like to show off her body anymore. Only for her NYU audition did she actually wera clothes that fit her._

_Right now, she was wearing a red plaid shirt and some baggy jeans that barely fit her around the waist. She wore some sneakers on her feet. Her hair was in a ponytail. _

_This was her senior year. This was supposed to be a high schoolers best year. They were above everyone, got all the privileges and were looked up to from the younger people. Instead, she was ridiculed for something that wasn't even her fault. _

_She hated everything. All she wanted to do was go crawl in a hole and stay there where no one would find her. Even her friends. Even Daryl._

_She turns a corner, her bag in her hand, expecting not to find anyone there, but is shocked to find a group of girls all gathered around one person's locker._

_Heather._

_Heather was Jack's girlfriend. She was the freshman he took behind the barn back in the year before freshmen year. She hadn't gotten pregnant and she wanted to have sex with him, but Anna didn't and yet she did. Why did life fucken hate her?_

_The girl was just as mean as Jack, maybe worse. They would corner her in the hallway or even outside of school. They would hurt, trip her. Anything really. She had bruises on her body from when they had pushed her in front of a moving car. She hadn't been run over, but she had been hit, and she had bruises on her whole entire right side of her body. She had been hurt so much. _

_Her friends were usually around her, Daryl the most. He usually scared away most of the kids because he really did threaten them. And Anna loved that he did. But when she was alone, they would get her in the most tiniest of places. School, home, even gas stations._

_Chatrooms._

_Heather notices her, as do the other girls. They all share a crimson smile and walk over to her, backing Anna up near the wall._

"_Well, if it isn't whore Williams. Ditching class?" Heather taunts._

"_You're doing it too," Anna says, somewhat weakly back. _

"_I bet she's heading out to slut it up form some money. That's the only way she could afford to pay for her little baby," one of the other girls says. Heather smiles._

"_Oh right, the devil child. How is she? Just as screwed up as you, I hope? Just as stupid? How dare you even say that Jack raped you. He would never touch anyone as ugly as you, you bitch."_

"_Wonder if she's already gotten pregnant again," another girl says._

"_Is there another monster inside that ugly little body of yours?" That made Anna cringe slightly. She wasn't bone thin, like these girls. But she still had a skinny structure, that was an hourglass shape. But she guessed it's never enough for these people. They thought she was the ugliest girl alive, even though all of them really looked like skeletons._

"_Hey, get the hell away from her," someone says from down the hall. All the girls, including Anna, look down and see Daryl coming down the hall. Anna breathes a sigh of relief. Heather smiles at him, trying to charm her way out of trouble._

"_Hey, Dixon. I have a question for you. Why do you chose to stick with this crap when you could have some real ass somewhere else?" Daryl glares at her and pushes through the mob of girls to get to Anna. When he does, Anna smiles at him and he takes her out of the group from the middle. "Well, answer."_

_Daryl turns back to them. "Because all of ya are nothing but a bunch of bitches who'll do anything for a dick in ya. Sorry, but I don't like girls like tha'. Plus, ya have a bony ass. No guy likes that."_

"_Then why do you hang around her?" Heather asks, ignoring the last statement. "She got screwed and had a kid. She's nothing but a whore."_

"_Because I know the whole story. So fuck off." Daryl puts an arm around her shoulder and leads Anna away from the group of girls, who were glaring at the two. When they're out of sight and earshot, Daryl turns to her. "Are ya ok?" Anna nods, a little fazed._

"_Yeah, I'm fine." She looks down. "Can we please get out of here?" He nods and grabs her hand, and both of them walk out the nearest door and out of the school. It was officially ditch day. _

"_I want to kill all of them," Anna says later on when they're eating at the park. "I want to kill every single last one of them. Everyone. I hate everyone. Except you, Lily and Joey."_

"_Not everyone is terrible. They just follow the rumors. Ya have to kill Jack and the group of girls. Especially Heather. God I hate that bitch," he says, taking a sip of his beer he bought. She chuckles and takes the bottle from his hands. "Ya sure ya can handle that?" he asks, amused._

"_Do you know me?" she asks, before taking a sip and giving it back to him. "And what is with Heather anyway? Why is she like being a bitch to you but also like, hitting on you at the same time?" He rolls his eyes._

"_Jack and Heather are perfect for each other. Both are people who go slutting around. She's been lookin' at me since freshmen year and would always say things to make me abandon ya or somethin' like that because she wanted to get in my pants. Fat fucken chance." She smiles._

"_Have you ever kissed someone let alone be with someone?" He shakes his head._

"_I've kissed people, but never really been with someone. No girls ever seem ok. All of them are sluts. The only girl I ever met that was remotely classy was ya." _

"_I'm not that classy." _

"_Yer a lot more classy then a lot of the other girls in that stupid school." They're silent for a second, watching the small kids play on the playground. "Do ya still do that stupid chat room?" She groans._

"_Daryl-"_

"_You're still doing it," he sighs. _

"_It's not like it's that bad-"_

"_Anna, it's terrible. Do ya see the things they say about ya? It's just addin' fuel to the fire!" She looks down and waves her hands._

"_I don't know what to do, I'm addicted to seeing what they're saying. I have to see. I don't even talk during it. I just look and see what they're saying so I can see exactly what they think and…" A few tears slip down her face but she wipes them quickly. "It's bad. But I'm living with it."_

"_Ya weren't able to live with it today because ya ditched school." _

"_Sometimes it's too much, but I can handle it most of the times. I'll be fine, D." That was one of the biggest lies she had ever told._

_Anna got home late that day. Her parents were gone. She drops her bag and runs upstairs to her room. After Daryl had dropped her off a few blocks over, Heather was there again. And this time there was no Daryl to help her. He had already left. _

_Now she had a fresh new bruise on the side of her face._

_She slams her bedroom door and leans against it, sliding down to the ground, tears rapidly escaping her eyes. Why did this happen to her? Why do people believe this shit? Why do people hate her?_

_Sobs racked her body, but she eventually slowed down enough to grab the tissue box above her and wipe her eyes, blowing her nose as well. She grabs her pillow and puts it between her legs, hugging it to her body, something she had been doing ever since she started school again. _

_Her eyes travel to the laptop sitting on her desk, which was only a few feet away from her. She gets up and sits in her chair, cautiously opening up the laptop._

_The first thing she saw was the chatroom website. She was logged on, just not in a chat room. She places her hand on the mouse and looks for the chatroom where her school talked all the time. It was her only source of info._

_She clicks on the link and it send her right to the room, and people were talking. She reads closely. They were talking about her. _

_**LinGrik-Anyone in 4**__**th**__** period Ms. Eckers English today? Did you SEE Annabelle Williams? **_

_**MattRi-God she looked terrible. **_

_**LinGrik-I wonder if she's sick**_

_**DaphNic-She probably got an STD from someone she fucked.**_

_**LinGrik-lol probably true.**_

_**MattRi- Is she really that horny?**_

_**DaphNic-She's so starved for attention that she just does it so people will like her, when in reality, we all hate her.**_

_**JoshEg- Rumor has it that she's been screwing the whole football team.**_

_**MattRi- I wouldn't touch that girl in a million years! She's a liar and a whore. She said Jack raped her but who has proof? No one. She probably just wanted a kid so she could get special treatment from colleges and shit.**_

_**JoshEg- So agree.**_

_**LinGrik- such a slut.**_

_**HeyitHeather- Oh we're talking about our favorite person are we?**_

_**LinGrik-Heather!**_

_**MattRi- of course we are.**_

_**HeyitHeather-She ditched school today to go hang out with that redneck piece of crap. Twenty bucks said she gave him a quickie outside school halls.**_

_**LinGrik-I'll take you up on that!**_

_**JoshEg- Probably true. They're always together. Maybe the kid is his. **_

_**HeyitHeather- Even though he's trash, I think he can do better than her though. She's nothing. She should just kill herself. No one's going to care. I don't even think her parents love her because she got pregnant at 15.**_

_**LittleTina-Yeah, she should just do the deed.**_

_**LinGrik-Hell yeah!**_

_**MattRi-Overdose on pills.**_

_**LinGrik- or slit her wrist!**_

_**JoshEg-Maybe hang herself.**_

_**HeyitHeather-Drink bleach and then overdose on pills. It would be a very quicker death. Get rid of her ugly face once and for all.**_

_Anna is crying and steps away from the laptop. No one cared. No one ever said anything to defend her. Everyone hated her. Tears raced down her cheeks, soaking her shirt._

_She looks to the bathroom and breathes in and out._

_No one would care. _

_She gets up from her chair and walks into her daughters room. She couldn't do this anymore. She had to make a decision and this was it. She leans down and kissed her daughter forehead, lingering a little before leaving and taking her phone in her hands._

_She dials Daryl's number and waits as the phone rings. She hears him pick up and is silent when he speaks into the phone._

"_Anna?" he asks. "Hello? Ya there?" She takes a deep breath._

"_I'm done," she mutters into the phone. _

"_What do ya mean Anna?" she hears him ask. _

"_Goodbye, Daryl," she says, hanging up. _

_Daryl stares at the phone in his hand for a second before realizing what she was doing. He drops is and grabs his keys. "No…no, no, no, I will not let her do this to herself," he says as he gets into his truck and drives full speed towards Anna's house._

_Anna goes into the bathroom and takes out the pills her mother always had. _

_Daryl races through the traffic lights, not caring if he would get a ticket or be chased. _

_Anna grabs the lid, but finds it hard to open, and tries again and again, but it won't open. She cries out in frustration._

_Cutting his time in half, he pulls up to the house and gets out, running through the door and up the stairs. _

_Anna hears sounds and stays quiet. She had to do this. She tries the cap again but it just won't budge._

_Daryl goes into her room and looks at the laptop. He frowns at what he sees, narrowing his eyes. There was no way in hell these bitches would get away with this. He hears a cry from the bathroom and he runs towards it, opening the door as soon as his hand touches the doorknob._

_Anna is there and she's trying to open the pills, tears streaming down her face. _

"_I can't open the top," she cries, trying harder. Daryl comes over to her and takes the pills from her hand. "Give it back to me!" she screams, reaching for them, but he throws them to the other side of the bathroom and keeps her in his grip, his arms around her._

"_No, I'm not lettin' ya do this to yourself," he says, still holding her back. She cries again, turning around to meet his eyes._

"_Let me go!" she screams, punching his chest. He just holds her closer._

"_You're not doing this, Anna," he says sternly. "I ain't lettin' ya go." She finally gives in and slumps against his chest, crying into his shirt. _

"_I want it to end," she cries. "I want it all to end." _

"_Me too," he says, cradling her in his arms. "And it will."_

**Present**

Daryl sat in his cell, thinking about what Anna had said to him before she left with Maggie. They had kept it a secret for a month. But everyday just got worse for him and her with Carol as a threat. And now he really didn't want her around at all if she was threatening Anna.

His family.

Anna, Aria and Scarlett.

Even the rest of the group was now threatened by Carol and her crazy obsession with him. He had to do something. And Rick was walking right past his cell now.

"Rick, we need to talk. Now." Rick stops in his tracks and glances into the cell where Daryl sat. Daryl stands up and walks over him. "It's about Anna."

"Are you two finally together?" he asks. Daryl raises an eyebrow at him. Rick chuckles. "It was obvious form the moment you brought her back that you loved her." Daryl's silent for a second, but nods.

"Yeah, we're together, but that's not what this is about. Anna and I, we've been together for a month and a half, but Carol's been threatening Anna to kill her." Rick raises his eyebrows.

"To kill Anna? Why? Has she done anything?" Daryl shakes his head.

"Carol has some weird demented thought that I'm in love with her because I searched so hard for Sophia. I only thought of her as a friend, but now I just want her gone. She can't be here and threaten Anna. She has to leave."

"Whoa, has she actually done something to Anna?"

"She almost killed her a month ago. She cut her arms, trying to slit her wrist or stab her. I can't have her here." Rick nods.

"I'll talk with the-"

"No, she needs to leave now, Grimes."

"Daryl-"

"I love her, Rick," he says, coming closer to the man. "I love her more than anything else in this world. I've loved her since before all this. I love her, the kids, and having that crazy bitch around is not helping. She threatened to kill the kids too if she didn't get what she wanted."

"Daryl, you need to-"

"Scarlett's my kid," Daryl says, interrupting him. Rick's eyes widen, his hands on his hips, staring at Daryl.

"She is?" he asks, more amazed then surprised.

"Yeah. I was with Anna before this, and we did it, and we had Scarlett. She's my daughter. And now I'm with her and Anna again. I care for Aria like she's my own. I can't have Carol here anymore. Not when she's threatening my family." Ricks silent.

"We need to talk to the group. Anna should be back-"

"RICK!" someone yells. Both of the men turn to see Maggie and Anna coming down the cell block towards them. Maggie has a determined look on her face. She walks right up to him. "Carol has to go, now."

"You know, too?" Rick asks. Maggie nods.

"She just told me. This woman can't be here anymore. She has to go." Said woman walks through the cell. Carol see's the four of them gathered together. She raises an eyebrow at Anna, glaring slightly.

"You spreading rumors about me, Annabelle?" she says. Anna glares at her.

"You're not staying here for much longer, so just shut up so we can figure out what to do with you." Carol's eyes widen and she looks at Daryl and Rick.

"You can't let her do this, Rick. Daryl? What about all we've been through?" She says walking up to him, but he pushed her away.

"You're threatening Anna and the kids, and I don't want ya here. I've never wanted ya that way, and I don't know what made ya think I did, but I don't. I love Anna. I always have. And ya need to leave, crazy bitch." Anna smiles at the end. She didn't think he would call her that.

Carol glares at Anna and walks over to her. "This is your fault!" she screams. Anna backs up, but Maggie goes in front of her to protect her.

"This has gone on too far enough, Carol," Maggie says. Carol continues to glare at Anna, but she puts Maggie's arm down and mentally tells her that it's time for her to speak. She walks up to Carol and looks her straight in the eyes, glaring right back.

"I never wanted to be the person to be hated on. I was bullied for a long time in Senior year. Even went as far to try to kill myself. But you know who saved me from that? Daryl. He has been with me through everything, and nothing you say, nothing you do, can tear us apart. Nothing. So you should just give up and let it be. And I'm sorry, but you're threatening my family. I can't have you around."

"You're nothing to this group," she randomly says, but Anna turns away and rolls her eyes. "You may go on raids and to the woods, but all you do is whore yourself out to Daryl. At least I actually-" She gets cut off, by Anna's fist.

She hated that word.

Whore.

"That's it," she growls, slapping Carol across the face, causing her to stumble back. She tries to get to her again, but all three of the others keep her back to prevent her from killing her. "Let me go! So I can cut her like she did to me!" she yells.

"Anna, I agree, but ya have to calm down. Killin' her ain't the way to go right now." She still struggles against his grip . "I ain't lettin' ya go, ya know that, right?" he whispers in her ear. She finally calms down enough, but is still glaring at Carol, who was now passed out from the slap she had delivered. Anna looks at Rick.

"What are we doing with her?" she asks. Rick looks at the passed out woman and looks back at Anna.

"She's passed out right now, so we're locking her away in one of the cells until we figure out what to do. We're talking to the council as soon as possible so we can get her out. I'm spry we didn't notice this earlier. And another thing, Scarlett's Daryl's daughter? Why didn't you tell us?" he asks. Anna chuckles, looking down.

"I don't know...because of her. But that didn't stop her from trying to kill me. Now that she's almost gone…"

"She will be gone," both Maggie and Daryl assures. Rick nods.

"Something will be done. I'm gonna go talk to Hershel to call a meeting." He walks away and Maggie looks to Anna.

"You ok?" she asks. Anna nods.

"Yeah." Maggie chuckles.

"That was quite the punch. I'm surprised the slap knocked her out and not the punch. It looked like it hurt." Anna smiles.

"I've always know how to pack a punch. She was asking for it anyway."

"And completely deserves it." She places a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Something will be done about her. Don't you worry. The kids will be fine and will you two. I gotta go find Glenn, but make sure you like that bitch somewhere where she can't get out." Then she walks away and Anna turns to Daryl.

"Daryl-" He cuts her off by placing his lips on her, effectively shutting her up. She sighs and replies, wrapping her arms around his neck. When he pulls back, their foreheads are touching and he looks her in the eyes.

"She ain't staying here any longer. Not if I can help it. Ya already got Rick and Maggie on your side. Won't be harder the get the rest of the group." She nods, leaning up and kissing him again. When she pulls back she runs her finger through his hair.

"I love you," she murmurs, kissing his cheek. He smiles and turns his head, connecting her lips with his.

"Love ya too," he says when he pulls back. "Now, let's lock her up."

**AND SHE'S OUT OF HERE! This chapter took me longer to write because my laptop started to act crazy, so I had to move this over to my main computer. But now it's done! Next chapter will probably be more kids based, because I kind of left a cliff hanger with Aria and Scarlett in the last chapter, but it will also have Anna and the whole group. Hope you enjoyed! Review! (please excuse any spelling errors. Sometimes my keyboard hates me.)**


	12. Time Alone

**Thanks for the new followers and reviews! I'm very grateful most are liking the story! But it's not done yet! This is probably the last chapter before we get into season four territory, so next chapter will be starting at the season 4 premier probably. Just have to find the script for that again so it can help me.**

**And there will be minor smut in this chapter, not a lot, but minor, so I'm changing the rating. ;) It's my first time writing a scene like that, so be nice with the comments. **

"Scarlett what are you doing?" Aria asks as her little sister drags her through the halls of the prison. She had been looking for a place to hide for ten minutes now. "Can't you just show me exactly what you want to here?" Scarlett shakes her head.

"No! We have to find a place that no one is!" Aria shakes her head and lets her sister pull her. 'What on earth could she be showing me that relates to the drawing?' she thinks. 'This is a six year old. She doesn't have much.'

The two walk towards a hidden room away from everyone. Aria raises an eyebrow when the little girl drops her hand and walks over to the middle of the room. Scarlett raises her hands up. "Stay there and let me show you."

Aria nods and waits for her little sister to do what she wants to do. 'What is this girl going on about?' she chuckles inwardly.

Scarlett steps down on floor tile she was standing on. It pushes deeper into the ground and the wall next to Scarlett opens. Aria stand there amazed. Her sister had found a secret room?

The little girl walks up to her and grabs her sisters hand, dragging her towards the passage. "Come on! I have to show you!" She pulls her into the wall and it closes behind them, Aria screeching in surprise. "Don't worry, we're not trapped. There' s a way out." Aria's silent.

The two trudge alone a narrow hallway, with some cobwebs gracing the walls every once and a while. Aria would back up slightly at each one. She hated spiders. All eight of their legs. It just wasn't normal. She would rather be stung by bees a hundred times in a row then touch a spider.

The girl stops at a closed door and looks at her sister, a smile on her face. "You ready?" she says, jumping up and down.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she chuckles, still slightly nervous at what she was going to show her. Scarlett grabs the knob of the door and opens it. When Aria see's what's inside, a hand goes to her mouth, trying to stop the cheerful laugh that would come from it.

It was a little room that had an easel, a couch, a bench, and a lot of art supplies. And the walls were littered with paintings, drawings, sketches, and just a bunch of paint splatters. One of the paintings was a girl with white blonde hair shooting snowflakes out of her hand into the sky. The Snow Queen.

It was her painting.

"How did you find this place?" Aria asks amazed. Scarlett runs over to the couch and lays down, smiling wider.

"I was looking through the prison to find stuff to do and I stepped on the floor and this place came up. I come here to draw. It's safe from the things outside." Aria touches the walls of paintings and smiles. She looks at one of them and notices it says Scarlett Williams at the bottome.

"You painted this?" Aria asks. It was a picture of a starry night above a farmhouse, the moon casting a big shadow the small two story building. There were bats flying in the air, and heat lines coming from the roof. It was most certainly a hot night in the picture.

"Yeah!" she says, coming over. "Ever since I came down here my paintings have gotten better! It's so quiet and safe. It's safest I feel away from you, mama, and daddy." Aria smiles at the daddy phrase. Granted, Daryl wasn't her official dad, but Aria knew that sooner or later he would be. There was nothing stopping them in this world.

"Have you shown this to anyone else in the prison?" she asks, sitting down near the easel and picking up a paint brush.

"Nope. Only you, since you paint, just like me! We can share this room! We don't have to go outside in the hot area. There's even a window in here so we can look outside!" She runs over to the side of the room and pulls a blind. Bright light comes into the room and Aria cringes. Her eyes had gotten used to the darkness around her.

"That's pretty cool, Scarlett," she says, blinking her eyes to make sure she didn't go blind. Scarlett smiles at her sister.

"Do the paintings look good? I mean, they'll never be as good as yours, but it think they're better." Aria chuckles and nods.

"So much better. But why did you take the Snow Queen?" Scarlett turns red.

"I like her. She seems so…powerful. I want her to be alive to we could be friends." Scarlett smiles. "She could teach us all her snow powers and make it cold when it's too hot…oh, she could freeze the things outside so they would never come near us!" Aria laughs at the little girls imagination.

"Well, just because she's not in physical form doesn't mean you can't be friends. Look, she's right there, saying hello," Aria says, pointing over to a corner in the room. Scarlett blinks and tries to see, but shakes her head.

"I don't see her."

"You have to believe she's there. Come on, look a little harder." Scarlett narrows her eyes trying to see, and then smiles.

"I see her!" she yells. Aria rolls her eyes and smiles. Her first imaginary friend.

"Well, I don't think Snow Queen fits her. How about we give her a name?" Aria asks. Scarlett nods, thinking for a second. "How about Winter?" Aria suggest. Scarlett shakes her head.

"Too normal." 'Too normal?' Aria thinks, snickering slightly. "How about Elsa?" Aria nods, considering the name on her tongue.

"Elsa," she replies. "Perfect name for a queen. Now, how about we get back to the prison? I'm sure people are waiting for us." Scarlett nods, hoping down from the couch she sat on.

"Ok! Come on Elsa!" she says. Aria shakes her head at her little sisters friend, following 'Elsa' out of the room and her sister. This would be interesting.

* * *

The council was gathered around the table trying to figure out exactly what to do with Carol and how to do it.

"So Carol really did try to kill you?" Glenn asks. Anna nods.

"Twice now. She keeps threatening my kids and myself…now I can stand that she threatens me, but not when she brings the family into it."

"I still can't believe Carol would do something as evil as that. Why does she want to kill you again?" Hershel asks. Daryl steps up.

"Because she had some weird thought that I'm supposed to be in love with her or some crap like that. She said she'd do anything to try and get to me. I don't know where she got that from. All I know it that I don't want Anna dead because of this crazy girl."

"Well, are we going to kill her?" Sasha suggest. "People like that shouldn't even be around." Hershel shakes his head.

"No, we are not going to kill her, at least now. If she does something else, that's when we make the ral decision of killing her or not." Anna glares at him.

"Are you saying we're KEEPING her here?" she asks, accusing him. Hershel shakes his head.

"I did not say that," he says. "My idea is that we give her supplies to live and drop her off. Somewhere far from the prison, where she can't find us. I agree, we can't have her around here, especially threatening Anna. After all, she is our other hunter next to Daryl." Anna rolls her eyes, a small half smile on her face.

"But how far would we drive her?" Daryl asks.

"As far away as possible. I'd say about 100 miles out would be our best bet."

"100 miles?" Glenn asks. "What about fuel? Do we even have enough to gas to drive her out?" Anna nods, looking at the map on the table.

"The other day I raided a gas station and knocked open the gas machine. Poured some into a million of containers. There all in the back of my car," she says, indicating to the Honda outside.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Rick asks. Anna shrugs.

"Wanted it to be a surprise when we needed fuel. Sasha knew too, so don't blame just me."

"Sasha knew?" Glenn says turning to Sasha, who was standing next to Anna.

"She told me not to tell!" she quickly says, looking at the map. Ann chuckles and shakes her head, pointing to the map.

"So if we're driving her really that far out, we would be driving her…here," she says, pointing to a specific spot on the map. She raises her eyebrows. "Wow, that is far. That's a long trip. How do we keep her knocked out because we can't have her escaping."

"We just keep banging her on the side of the head?" Glenn suggests, rather amusedly. The whole group laughs slightly.

"Yeah, bring a beer bottle and knock her upside the head. That'll keep crazy pants down," Sashe agrees. Anna shakes her head at the two.

"I couldn't agree more, but she already had a huge bruise forming from where I slapped her and punched her, so I think she's encountered enough pain for today," she chuckles. "Maybe we can give her some sort of pills that knock her out for a day? Don't we have some, Hershel?"

"Yeah, we do. But some people actually really need the pills," he says.

"Come on, we just need like two. That would be fine to keep her out." He seems hesitant, but nods.

"Only two though." Anna nods.

"That's all we need."

"Who's driving her out?" Rick asks. Anna speaks up.

"I will. I started this, so I'm gonna end it." Daryl stares at her.

"No. There is no way I'm lettin' ya go there by yourself with her in the backseat." Anna sighs and looks to him.

"Daryl I need you to stay here and look after the kids. Please-"

"I can do it," someone says from the doorway. Anna and Daryl-as well as the rest of the council-turns to the entrance to see Maggie leaning against the frame. "I can look after them. I don't want you alone with her either." Anna thinks for a second.

"Ok," she says. "Thanks, Maggie. I owe you one." Maggie smiles at her.

"Consider it paid as long as she's gone." Anna smiles and looks at Daryl.

"Let's get her out of here."

* * *

The two companions as well as the prisoner were well on their way to where exactly they were driving Carol out. They were well into an hour now, taking it slow so they didn't hit any walkers in the process. The sun was beginning to go down.

"The sun's starting to go down," Anna says, staring outside her window. "We should find a place to stay for the night after we drop her off. They're not gonna be there to open the gates when we get back." Daryl nods.

"I saw a house a few miles back. Seemed deserted. We could stay there," he suggests. Anna shrugs.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Dixon." He smiles at the nickname and looks back to the road.

"What happened to cowboy?" he asks. She chuckles.

"I don't know…didn't seem to suit you anymore because we haven't been riding horses like we used to. I wish Becky was still around," she says sadly.

"Becky? I thought ya liked Lila?" She chuckles.

"I loved all my horses. But after Lila passed away, I would ride Becky. I became close to her, but now I wish she was still around. I think she became food for the walkers when the whole thing started. When I went to go check on my house, she wasn't there." She sighs. "I wonder what really happened to her. But I think she's dead."

"What about yer parents?" She laughs bitterly.

"Found them dead. They're gone. But I'm just thankful my daughters are ok and that you are. If I lost all three of you I'd think I'd lose my mind." She shivers. "I can't even stand the fact that that could happen one day."

"Don't think like that. I ain't going nowhere, neither are your daughters, and neither are ya. We're all making out of this." She smiles.

"You promise me that?" she chuckles. He looks at her.

"Promise." She smiles at him and starts to lean over when a moan from the back interrupts her. She looks back quickly and notices Carol is waking up. "Shit," she mutters, unbuckling her seatbelt and heading to the back.

"Anna, be careful," Daryl says. She nods and sits in the backseat, trying her best to put on her best Maggie impression.

"Where am I?" the dazed Carol asks. Anna breathes in for a second and starts to fake her out.

"You're in a cell recovering sweetie," she says in her southern accent. Daryl smiles from the front seat. That was the girl he fell in love with. She was fine as she is, but that southern accent was the first voice he had hear from her. "We need ya to take these pills, ok honey?" she says.

Carol nods and takes them, putting them in her mouth. She looks up and notices Anna. Her eyes widen. "You," she hisses, but stops in her trying to reach her, her eyes closing.

"Bye Bye," Anna says rather mockingly as Carol passes out for the second time in a row. Anna smiles and climbs back into the front seat, smirking a little. "And she's gone," she says. Daryl chuckles.

"Missed that southern accent of yours," he says. "All but left ya when ya went to NYC." She chuckles and leans over, kissing his cheek.

"It's not gone completely," she says, leaning back against her seat. "I'm just use to the New York accent now. I'm surprised you didn't lose yours. You've been with me in NYC for a long time." He shrugs.

"Once a redneck, always a redneck." Anna laughs, shaking her head.

"Very true." She looks outside and thinks for a moment. "You know what I've been thinking of doing for the past few days?" He looks at her from the corner of his eyes.

"What?" he asks.

"I might take Aria and Scarlett out to really learn how to use a gun, or have someone teach her, because even though she's protected a lot, they need to know how to use it properly. I bet when Scarlett was holding that gun she didn't even know how to aim." She groans. "I hate that my kids have to grow up in this world. It's not fair."

"Nothing is fair in this world. Nothing ever will be." She nods.

"Do you think the world will ever go back to being like it was before?" He's silent for a moment before replying.

"No. Not completely normal. Maybe something will happen that will control the walkers, but it never will be. But you'll be fine. One thing is that this girl isn't gonna be around anymore." She smiles.

"Thank God," she mumbles. "How about you train the girls? You're good with guns. Always have been. Plus they love you so that's already a good sign." He's silent for a moment, considering her words.

"Ok," he says carefully. "But only if you come too. You barely know how to shoot a rifle." She gasps.

"I know how to shoot one!" she accuses. "I've shot one plenty of times to kill a deer!" He rolls his eyes, fully looking at her now.

"No ya don't. And anytime ya hit a deer it's usually on accident." She rambles incoherent words for a second before looking down and pouting.

"Shut up," she whines. He laughs and faces the road.

"I'm only sayin' because ya need to learn properly. Don't need ya getting killed out there." She rolls her eyes and looks back out the window. "Besides, better to have two Dixons than one."

Her head spins around to looks at him at full speed, her eyes slightly wide, giving her whiplash. "What?" she says breathless. Her heart felt like it was beating a million times per second. He had a stupid happy grin on his face.

"Two Dixons are better than one," he repeats. "Well, it'd be four with the kids," he says, looking back outside, the grin still in place. A huge grin of her own had spread across her face. This was his own way of asking her. "What do ya say, Anna?" he says, looking back at her. The smile was still spread wide across her face.

She reaches over, grabs his hand, and leans in, kissing his cheek. When she pulls back, she smiles at him. "I agree, but I think four Dixons are better than one, not just two. Turn them into badass's just like you." He chuckles and continues to drive.

* * *

They had reached the point where they were dropping Carol off. Getting out of the car, both took her passed out body and carried her far away from the car, just in case she woke up. A few walker had come around them, but both took them out with ease.

"Those are the only few around here," Anna comments. "She should be waking up in a few. We should get going before she does. I don't have any more pills." He nods and she starts to get back to the car, but he wraps and arm around her waist, pulling her closer to his body. "Dixon, this isn't the time," she chuckles. He still kisses her.

She wraps her arms around his neck and returns the kiss, but pulls back so they could get back to the car. And for the first time he holds her hand heading back. "Isn't your name Dixon now?" he chuckles. She rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, but you're nickname will always be Dixon to me." She looks up and notices all the stars. "We need to find a house. I don't remember where the house you saw was." He shrugs.

"As long as we don't have to drive the whole entire time. I'm tired as hell," he groans. She chuckles and both of them get into the car. Buckling up, Daryl hits the gas pedal and drives away. Anna glances into the side mirror and nearly jumps at what she sees.

Carol standing up.

"Drive faster. She's up." The car instantly gains speed.

"Yes, ma'am," he snickers. She sighs and leans against her seat. She was free from Carol.

At least for now.

* * *

The two had been driving looking for a place to stay for the night when Anna notices a house in the distance. She points to it.

"Look! There's one! I think there's a path to it." He nods and looks for the path, going down the bumpy road to the small house. Anna smiles. "Perfect."

The house was a country house, just two stories. Randomly in the woods, Anna had no idea why, but all she knew was that she was thankful she found it.

The two climb out of the car and walk towards the house, weapons ready just in case something was to pop out at them. Opening the door, both go off in separate directions to scope out the house. Anna steps into the living room and tries to light, and surprisingly it switches on.

"Daryl, there's electricity here!" she yells, happily. "Maybe there's warm water!"

He switches on the light in the kitchen and is surprised. "No shit," he whispers.

"It must be on a generator," Anna suggests heading up the stairs, Daryl right behind her. When she reaches the top, she turns to see a bedroom. She walks in and immediately notices the queen size bed. She drops her bag, runs, and jumps onto the bed, like a little kid going into a hotel room, and groans into the pillow.

Daryl chuckles at her childness and places his bag near the bed. She looks up at him. "It's an actual bed, Daryl! We might actually get some sleep tonight!"

"Or do something else," he says, leaning down next to her and capturing her lips with his. She chuckles and smiles into the kiss, pulling him down on top of her, her hands tangling in his dirty brown hair.

His hands moved under her tank and started to travel up her body, making her moan in pleasure. She moves her down and takes off the shirt he was wearing, running her hands over his tone stomach. She adjusted herself slightly and could tell he was aroused. She giggles a little.

"Someone'e excited," she purrs into his ear. He growls and put her lips back on his, taking off her shirt now, and then her bra, throwing them to the side. His hands move up and cup around her breasts, causing her to smile and kiss him more, trying hard not to moan.

But she did.

He always won during these.

Her hands move down to his waist and unbuckle his belt, pulling his pants down, as he pulled her shorts down. Both just wanted it to happen.

"Ya sure, darling?" he says. She replies by kissing him again, chuckling as he positions over her after putting on the piece. As he entered her, she let out a gasp of pleasure as he starts to move, each and every thrust getting faster and more harder than before, causing Anna and Daryl both to let out moans of ecstasy.

They loved this. Both were just as wild as the other. Both were not afraid to do exactly what they waned during times like these. That, and the fact that both were amazing in bed.

Both climaxed at the same time, both groaning in ultimate pleasure. Daryl lets his body fall onto her for a moment and Anna smiles. He looks up at her and kisses her again, this time slow and passionate. She chuckles and leans back.

"I need a shower," she says. He rolls his eyes and kisses her again.

"Like that matters anymore," he says. She chuckles and leans against him when she pulls back.

"I mean, we're in a nice house that has electricity and-"

"Anna, go to sleep," he says, dragging her down to the mattress. She smiles and kisses him one last time before heading to sleep, his arms wrapped firmly around her.

* * *

Anna was the first one to wake up the next morning. Remembering what happened the night before, she blushes and climbs out of Daryl's arms, picking up her discarded clothes and putting them on. She climbs down the stairs and goes to the kitchen, looking in the cabinets for something to eat.

There was coffee.

She moans in delight and takes it out, ripping open the package and making it as soon as possible. When it was done, she poured it into a mug and drank it with delight, moaning as the hot liquid went down her scratchy throat. She hadn't had coffee in forever.

"Mornin'" Daryl says, coming down the stairs with just his pants on. Anna chuckles and hands him a cup of coffee. He smiles at it and immediately drinks. She smiles.

"Morning to you too," she laughs. He places the mug away from his face and walks over to her, placing a kiss on her temple.

"Last night was amazing," he says, causing her to blush deep red. "And so it this." She laughs, leaning up and kissing his cheek.

"I agree, but we should prob-" She stops midsentence when she hears a door shut outside. She puts her mug down and looks out the window, and what she sees almost makes her cry.

"Anna?" Daryl asks. She turns back to him and smiles, then runs to the door. He looks out the window and chuckles. "No shit."

"JOEY! LILY!" Anna screams, running into her friends. The two look up and smile at her, running to her as well.

"ANNABELLE?!" Both of them scream. The three embrace each other in a giant bear hug and Anna could feel tears running down her face. They were alive. Her friends were alive.

"I can't believe you're alive!" Joey says. Anna smiles.

"I can't believe both of you are ok!" Anna yells. Joey looks at the house as does Lily, and Anna follows there gaze to where Daryl now had a shirt on.

"Hey, it Daryl!" Joey says. He waves at them.

"Glad to see you're ok, man," he says, coming over and patting him on the back. Anna sighs happily. Carol was gone, she was Daryl's and her friends were alive. They were so coming back with them.

**That happened! Whew! So happy I finished this. So next chapter will probably start with the plot line of 30 Days Without An Accident, but of course Carol is gone and I will be working Anna's storyline as well as Joeys and Lilys into the story. Hope you enjoyed! Review!**

**~Ali**


	13. Not Chapter But Please Read

**Hi!**

**So i'm actually working on the next chapter which should be posted later tonight around nine maybe earlier. But i just want to say i would appreciate more reviews. Not that i don't like the amount i'm getting now. I'm thankful i'm even getting anyu. But reviews actually help me write the story so i can give you guys a good story. So i'd like a little more feedback at what you think. Next chapter will be up later tonight! Thank you!**

**~Ali**


	14. 30 Days

**I have school again tomorrow Hopefully on Wednesday I get off because we're supposed to get snow where I live and usually like three inches closes my school. But even if its not closed I'll still be writing. This chapter is going to start off with a memory and then get into season four territory, so I'm excited to continue into that storyline. And I don't know how long this chapter will be, but it will be all of episode one, so maybe it will be lone, but who knows? Hope you enjoy the chapter! Heaven knows I will! .**

_Annabelle sighs as she flops down onto the couch that had come with the apartment she had bought. It was her sophomore year of college and she couldn't STAND the NYU dorms. That and the fact that her roommate always brought back boys to their room to screw. The girl needed sleep, not the listen to moans and groans all night._

_The apartment was spacious, but Anna realized she hadn't even seen all of it. She had just turned 20 the summer before, and she was excited to start living her own life in an apartment._

_Of course, there were two things missing._

_Specifically two people._

_But she would work everything out later._

_She gets up from the couch and looks around the room she was in. It was big, enough room to fit a living room set as well as a pretty big TV. She could probably fit a little play area for when she brings Aria up here. Some art stuff. That little girl loved to fingerpaint._

_Anna moves towards the kitchen and notices it is pretty nice. The counters were granite and there was a little island in the middle to place food on. The fridge seemed kind of old, but Anna could buy a new one. She had been saving up some money to buy her own stuff._

_There was a small kitchen table and the left an actual dining room. It was quant, not to extravagant but not to simple. She liked things like that. _

_She moves to the left and up there steps to the hallway. Walking down, she sees a bathroom and steps in. When she notices the color, she cringes._

_Green._

_She hated green._

_She made a sidenote to pick out a new color and paint it. But other than the color, the bathroom was good. It had a nice large bathtub in one corner and a shower in the other. The toilet was obviously white, and the counter had two sinks, so two people could get ready at once._

_She had gotten this place for a steal!_

_She moves out and walks down the hallway more and notices three bedrooms. She chuckles. She really only needed two when Aria cam up. She walks into one and smiles._

_It had obviously been a kids room. It was small, with bright pink walls and flowers painted on every once and a while. There was no furniture left in the room, but Anna was sure she could easily get some from IKEA. There was one just down the road from where the apartment was._

_She walks out and goes into the next room and few yards over. It was bigger than the last. It seemed that this would be like a teenagers room or something like that. The walls were grey though, and Anna hated that color as well. The only dark color she liked was black, ironically. She hated anything else that reminded her of disease or sickness. She hated hospitals. They made her literally want to throw up._

_The last time she had been to one was after the accident. After her mother…._

_She shakes her head. Her mother was gone. She had to accept that and move on. I mean, it had been three months! Why was she still sad as hell about it? It's not like she ever really did anything for Anna besides bring her into the world and give her money. Half the time Anna wanted to earn the money herself. She hated getting money from her friends or family. She hated when people bought stuff for her. She just didn't feel deserving enough to get it._

_She moves out of the room and walks down the hall to the last room and smiles. This would be her room that she would stay in._

_It was a light blue, but seemed darker because there were no lights in there currently. There wasn't any furniture, just like the last two rooms, but Anna could go and get some. She walks in and looks out the window, a nice and beautiful view of Central Park._

_She loved the south. After all, it had been where she grew up. But New York was something different. And she liked it. In fact, she loved it. The one thing she loved was the random food trucks and carts on the street, offering food to passerby pedestrians. _

_She loved getting a random thing of curly fries at 12 am in the morning._

_Or getting a coffee and 9 in the night._

_You couldn't ever really find those back in the south. They had great barbeques, but it never amounted up to the street shakes in the street. _

_She walks over to the closet and smiles. It was big enough for her clothes and her vanity. Nice big walk in closet. Now all she had to do was bring up the rest of her stuff and head on out to get the furniture. _

_She walks out and considers calling Joey to help her out, but she shakes her head. She could do this. She has muscles. Granted, they were in her leg, but she could._

_But the sound of her phone ringing stopped her._

_And it was Joey._

"_I was just thinking of calling you!" Anna says, laughing into the phone._

"_I just wanted to ask if you needed any help with stuff or anything," he says. Anna notices the nervousness in his voice. She raises an eyebrow and tries not to laugh._

"_Joey? What's wrong?" she asks, chuckling in spite of herself. He sighs._

"_Shane wants to have 'the talk' and I don't. I really don't." Anna snickers._

"_Joey, stop being such a pussy. You're the womanizer and the manizer to just go and grow some balls." He laughs._

"_Jeez, you don't mess around, do you?" he chuckles. She smiles._

"_Nope! Now, go and talk. I gotta head out and get shit."_

* * *

_Anna stares at the receipt for the second time and then at the furniture they placed in her apartment the day after. Thank God for insurance money from her mother._

_No, more or less thank God her mother created one of the most successful fast food chains in history. She rolls her eyes and goes to her room, changing to go out on a run._

_Her room had been furnished, and now there was a queen bed ready to be slept on. But even though it was raining a little, Anna was heading off to the fitness center at the school to run for track. Her team had gotten to National Division and she was not going to let them down._

_She changes into all her Nike shit, because she was a sponser for them. She never really wanted to be a professional runner. That wasn't even what she was going to college for. But it was a hobby, and people wanted her to be the face of it._

_She grabs her MP3 and laces up her sneakers, putting the headphones in her ears. She grabs her keys and puts them in her pocket, and then runs out the door, locking it behind her, and into the elevator. When she reaches the bottom, she runs outside, avoiding the people, and is on her way to the fitness center. _

_The music blasts in her ear, making her want to run faster, but she knew if she did she would slow down too quickly after. So she keeps a steady pace._

'Hey now, you're an All Star

Get your game on, go play.

Hey now, you're a rock Star

Get the show on, get paid.

All that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars

Break the mold.'

_Anna runs into Central Park and avoids all the couples reenacting a stupid scene from a movie by kissing in the rain. She rolls her eyes. If she ever had a boyfriend, she wouldn't do something like that. It was cheesy and cliché. The only thing she probably would reenact would be something from Titanic or something like that. Now that was a good film! And Leonardo DiCaprio was amazingly hot._

_To think, that kids her age at the time were killed all because of a stupid ice berg._

_That movie made her afraid of even the thought of a cruise. She woule probably jump off the railing herself just like Rose tried to do. She would never take a cruise if her life depended on it._

_She runs to a foodstand quickly to pick something up. She would be burning it off anyway for the next five hours probably. Plus she hadn't had any breakfast yet._

"_One pretzel, please," she says, reaching into her pocket for money, only to find it was gone. "No shit," she whispers, looking around for who actually snuck into her pocket and took her wallet. _

"_Looking for this?" someone says next to her. She turns to the person, a hard glare set on her face, ready to curse them out New York style, when she sees a little girl and a man. She knew both of them. Her mouth dropped wide open._

"_Daryl?" she says, amazed, and then to her daughter. "Aria?!" she says._

"_Mama?!" she mimics. Anna smiles and takes her in her arms. _

"_You little minx. Oh I can't believe you're here." She looks up at Daryl. "I can't believe both of you are here! How did you-"_

"_Lily told me exactly what ya were doing today. Wanted to surprise ya." Anna laughs._

"_Consider me surprised! Give me my wallet! Sorry sir," she says, placing the two dollars on the cart. The man grumbles in reply. She grabs the pretzel and breaks off a piece for all three of them. "Well, screw my day. Let's head back to my place. There's no way you're heading out to the fitness place with me." Daryl snorts._

"_With all those college kids? Hell no." Anna chuckles and grabs Aria's hand. They were in New York._

* * *

"_Well, looks like I'm buying extra furniture," Anna later says as she watches Aria watch the new show, Spongebob. "I don't understand that show. What's so fascinating about a sponge talking to a starfish?" she asks, turning back to Daryl. He shrugs._

"_Exactly that, I guess," he replies. She shrugs and takes a sip of the beer Daryl had brought. _

"_You know, I shouldn't be drinking this," she states._

"_Who cares?" he simply states. She chuckles and looks back at him._

"_So tell me, exactly why did you and Aria come all the way up here? Just to visit or I'm guessing you are staying." He shrugs._

"_Ya could kick me out. I'm pretty sure Aria doesn't want to leave though." Anna shakes her head,_

"_I'm just joking," she snickers. "You can stay, but you're helping pay for half the shit you need. I have money, but I ain't a billionaire. But why didn't you tell me?" she asks._

"_Like I said, I wanted it to be a surprise. The last time I saw ya it was at the funeral, so…" Her words choke up and she shakes her head._

"_No it's fine. I'm fine. Just a…still hurts a little and I don't know why because it's been three months and I should have gotten over it but I haven't and-"_

"_Anna?" he says, interrupting her._

"_Yeah?" she replies quietly._

"_You're rambling." She laughs and places the beer down. "It's ok to cry. She was your mom. And even though she was kind of-"_

"_Unemotional? Uncaring? Probably wouldn't have cared if I killed myself or not back in senior year?" she finishes, looking down at the table._

"_Anna, that's in the past. Let it be." She looks up and notices that he's staring at her with concern. She smiles sadly and shakes her head._

"_I'm not gonna pull another one like that, Daryl," she sighs, rubbing her temples. "I just…I need something to get her off my mind. School's been stressing, and now the apartment and Divisions and just-"_

"_How about a movie?" he states. "We could get someone to watch Aria." Anna thinks for a second. A movie with just Daryl would be nice. _

"_What movie?" she asks slyly._

"_Blair Witch Project," he replies. Anna groans._

"_You know I don't do well with scary movies," she replies._

"_Which is the perfect way to get your mom off your mind. What do ya say?" She thinks for a second, then takes out her phone._

"_I'll call Lily. But If you do one thing after that movie to scare me I swear to God above." He snickers, knowing she knew business when it came to that kind of stuff._

**Present**

**Five Months Later**

A little girl ran through the halls near the prison yard with her friend Billy. The two had been spending time with each other and were playing tag. She had to catch him before he reached the end of the hallway. But he did.

"I win!" he teases, sticking out his tongue. Scarlett stomps her foot on the ground.

"No fair! You took a short cut!" she yells.

"It is fair!"

"Not it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"What's going on over there?" someone says from above. Both kids look up and notice Joey staring at the two kids, a slight amused look on his face. "Billy are you annoying Scarlett again? You know Daryl will kick my butt if you are," he says, picking up his kid.

"No daddy," he says. "She just says that our game was unfair!"

"Because it is!" she whines. Joey chuckles and leans down to Scarlett.

"I saw you're daddy outside along with your sister. How about you go and see them while I talk to Billy, ok sweetie?" he says. Scarlett nods and runs out to the prison yard to where there had been tables set up and a food station where everyone was getting breakfast.

She walks through the amount of people and sees her sister at one of the tables, talking to Carl with her sketchbook on the table. She walks over and listens to what they were talking about.

"I wish we still have DVD players. The other day I found this whole set of horror movies in one of the offices here," Carl says. Anna shakes her head, laughing slightly.

"No! God No! I do terrible with jumpscares!" she chuckles. "When I went to see them my popcorn would fly everywhere when one would happen!" He laughs.

"They're not that scary," he replies. She shakes her head.

"Then you have balls of steel if you never jump during a jumpscare," she says, ending laughing hard, him laughing as well. Scarlett pops up from under the table, effectively scaring Aria. She squeals and jumps out of her seat, then glares at her little sister. The few people around them were laughing, including Scarlett and Carl. "Why Scarlett?!" she whines, sitting back down.

"What's everyone laughin' about over here?" someone says from behind Aria. She turns around and sees Daryl looking at the two girls with a smirk on his face.

"Daddy!" Scarlett yells, running out from underneath the table. He smiles and takes the girl up in his arms. Everyone knew that Scarlett was biologically Daryl's now, but it didn't matter because her name was Scarlett Dixon now.

"Morning, kid. But why does your sister seem mad at ya?" he says, chuckling slightly.

"Scarlett just scared the bejesus out of me," Aria states, still glaring at the small girl. "She's learned of my fear of jumpscares thanks to this ass right here for bringing horror movies up," she says, her thumb gesturing to Carl who was still laughing slightly.

"I didn't even know ya had a fear of that. I thought it was just spiders," he says, giving a hint to Scarlett. Aria's eyes widen and her arms go in the air.

"Really?" she growls. Daryl chuckles.

"Where's your mom?" he asks.

"Still sleeping. Had rough night trying to secure the fences. The one near the north side of the prison starts to fall the other day," Carl answers for Aria. She was still fuming from the jumpscare.

"Wanna help wake her up?" Daryl asks the two sisters.

"I got in trouble last time, this is all yours," she says. "I don't need to get punished for the third time in a month. Heaven knows she's always mad."

* * *

Scarlett was giggling as Daryl placed her cautiously on the bed where her mother was sound asleep. She looks up at him and he starts from three, then two, then one, and then says "Go."

"MAMA!" she yells. Anna jumps up from her bed, ready to fight off whatever was there, but sees only her daughter and Daryl. She growls and places her head on her pillow. "Wake up!"

"Really Daryl?" she says. He chuckles and takes the kid off of her mother.

"I had to," he replies. "Hey, I heard Billy lookin' for ya before we came in here. Head out there," he says to the girl. She nods and runs out of the cell. When he turns back to Anna she's up and glaring at him. "What?" he chuckles. "Ya had to get up."

"You can really be an ass, you know that, right?" she says, throwing on her shorts and then her boots. "That was not nice." And yet there was a smile on her face.

"Yet you're smiling," he replies. She rolls her eyes.

"Yeah? Well guess who's going on the supply run with you because you did that!" Daryl cringes and walks over to her.

"Anna-"

"I'm going. Paybacks a bitch, ain't it?" she says. She throws her hair up in a ponytail and turns to him. "You're lucky I'm not giving you a legit punishment."

"Oh, and what would that be?"

"No sex for a week?" she states, turning back to the small mirror on her desk.

"I could go that long-"

"We both know you can't," she says, chuckling slightly. "But since you did wake me up, let's head outside. I'm hungry anyway."

The two walk outside and are automatically met with greetings. "Morning, Mr. Dixon!" someone greeted. Anna chuckled slightly, knowing how it irritates him.

"Morning Daryl and Anna!" someone else says. Unlike Daryl, Anna actually waved back to them. He just wasn't used to the attention. Just as they sat down to eat, a kid with glasses came over.

"Good morning, Mr. Dixon! Anna!" he said happily. Anna giggled slightly and how Daryl was slightly uncomfortable.

"Morning Patrick. How are you?" He fidgets awkwardly for a moment and smiles nervously.

"I'm g-good. Just wanted to thank Mr. Dixon for the deer be brought back yesterday. It was a real treat," Patrick replies. Daryl sighs.

"Whatever," he says. Patrick nods and sticks out his hand.

"It would be an honor to shake your hand, sir," Patrick says. Daryl looked to Anna for help, but she was trying her hardest not to laugh. Her face was probably red.

"Go on, superstar," she teases. Daryl sighs again and licks his fingers before shaking the kids hand. But Patrick didn't seem to mind. When the kid leaves he turns to Anna who had started to laugh.

"Bring back one deer and suddenly you're the new Elvis Presley. What the hell?" he complained and started to eat.

"They adore you, Daryl," Anna says to him. He snorts.

"Adoration gets ya nowhere." She raises an eyebrow.

"You adore me and the kids and look where we are now." He rolls his eyes.

"You're in a different category." She leans closer.

"And what category is that?"

"People I don't want to go on the run with me." She groans and backs away a little.

"It's your fault I'm going!" she replies.

"I just don't want ya getting hurt," he replies. "You've done literally so much for the past few weeks and ya look like you're going to pass out. I don't want ya there." She thinks for a moment. She had been doing a lot lately.

"Fine, I won't go. But you better bring your ass back here safe." He swallows what he eats and leans over, pecking her cheek. "Lucky bastard," she mumbles under her breath.

"Yeah, I am," he replies, smiling slightly. She pushes his shoulder, laughing.

* * *

Anna sat in her cell later that day, well, night. The sun had started to go down and she was starting to get a little tired, but that's because her daughter would come into her cell every once and a while to say something, effectively keeping her up.

So she just decided to stay up all together.

Daryl and the rest of the group hadn't gotten back. At least from what she was told. She hadn't seen him yet so he could be back but just not there. She was drawing in her journal again.

She actually had wanted to go on the raid. She needed some new clothes as did Aria. Both of their sets were covered in muck from when they went out in the rain one day. Since there were no lakes nearby to wash, at least they knew of, they had been wearing the dirty clothes for the past week.

She looks at the painting her daughter had painted the night before. It was the prison in the daylight, and it actually looked pretty cool. It wasn't scary like people usually thought it would be. Her daughter had such a gift. She wished one day that her daughters work would be in a museum. Maybe if the world ever was to go back to normal, but that was one of the most unlikeliest things that could ever possibly happen.

She finished up her drawing and goes to put the journal in her bag, but stops when something covers her eyes. It-whatever it was-had landed on her head.

She takes it off and smiles.

A new top.

She looks to the doorway and sees Daryl leaning against it, a bag of something in his hands. "You're back," she smiles.

"Course I am. I brought back some clothes. Knew ya needed some." She smiles and leans up, kissing his lips.

"Thanks, D. Did you-"

"Aria got some too," he says, finishing her sentence. She smiles but notices a hint of pain on his face.

"What happened?" He looks to her.

"Ya know that kid Zach?" he says. She nods.

"Yeah. He's Beth's….oh," she ends sadly. He nods.

"I just told her and she seemed so cold about it. Just tired of losin' people." She sighs.

"I think everyone is, Daryl. But to be true, I'm happy you're alive and that's that. Plus, also the fact that I have new clothes." He smiles slightly. "Now, can we please get to bed before Scarlett comes in here again? I couldn't get to sleep because of her. Missing you so much," she chuckles.

"I mean, I am the best things that's ever happened to her so." Anna smacks his head playfully, causing him to snicker.

"Get to sleep before I smack you harder."

**And episode one is a wrap. I'm probably not going to update tomorrow. I'll try, but it'll be hard. But I'm happy I got this chapter done. I didn't think I would. But I am excited to continue to story. And yes, Daryl and Anna are 'married' now, even though it's not official. Nothing is in the apocalypse. Just wanted to make that clear. Hope you enjoyed! Review! So excited for the rest of the story!**


	15. Infected

**I GOT OFF FROM SCHOOL! YEAH BITCH! XD so excited! Snow day! So this chapter will go into episode 2 of season four and also have a memory from the past. And from watching the snow fall, I decided it was going to be a Christmas memory, because I've been wanting to do a memory like it. And then also I just watched the episode on youtube and I have to say this chapter will definitely not be word by word because my memory is not that good and probably never will be. XD So I hope you enjoy!**

"_Why are these lights all tangled up in a ball?" Daryl yells, agitated at the knotted up Christmas lights from the boxes in Anna's closet. Anna chuckles from the kitchen, walking over to him and handing him a cup of coffee._

"_I don't know. They always end up like that either way. Even if you put them back in the box just the way you found them, they'll end up getting tangles anyway." She takes the ball from his hands and hands him the mug. "You go get the ladder and I'll untangle this." He raises an eyebrow._

"_Ya sure ya can?" he chuckles. She rolls her eyes, placing a hand on her hip._

"_I've been untangling these since I was six. I know how to untangle shit. Now go get the ladder so we can put this shit up." Daryl rolls his eyes and walks over to the closet where the step ladder was. "Have you ever actually expierenced a real Christmas?" she asks._

_He doesn't answer at first, but when he is about to, "Frosty the Snowman" started to belt throughout the apartment. Anna looks to the cd player and see her daughter dancing around the living room, singing along to the tune. She rolls her eyes and turns back to Daryl, who was now coming towards her. He sees she has completely untangled the ball. _

"_How the hell?" he asks. She chuckles and turns back to the tree that was in the living room, placing them on the tree slowly. _

"_Told you I know my stuff," she says, coming down lower to the ground to finish up the lights. _

"_Well, whatever," he grumbles. She laughs._

"_Aw, is wittle Daryl sad he can't do something his friend can do? The baby!" she coons, throwing her arm on his shoulder. He playfully glares at her and she laughs again, heading back over to the tree. "Girls are better at stuff then guys sometimes, you know that. Right?"_

"_Mama's right!" Aria says from the window seat, staring outside and the blank city. "She's always right."_

"_Not all the time," he replies. "Wasn't right about that party," he mumbles under his breath. But Anna caught him and smacked his shoulder._

"_Not here in front of the kid," she hisses, turning back to the box full of colorful ornaments she had brought back from home. She turns to him, her NYU ornament hanging on the tree now. "You never answered my question."_

"_What question?" he grunts, picking up a heavy box full of stuff from the living room and bringing it to the hall closet._

"_Have you ever actually had a real Christmas?" she asks. He drops the box and closes the door, walking back to the two girls._

"_Ya know my past. So ya know the answer." She frowns and looks down for a moment, thinking. What could she do?_

"_MAMA! IT'S SNOWING!" Aria screams from the window. Anna's brow furrows and she walks over to the window. Sure enough, there were tiny particles of frozen water falling from the sky and sticking to the ground like kids tongue to a popsicle stick on a warm summer day. "Jack Frost is making it SNOW!" she yells. Anna chuckles._

"_Indeed he is! You did wear your PJ's backwards last night. Maybe that's why!" Aria smiles at the snow and opens up the window slightly, trying to catch the pure white substance in her hand so she could see the delicate pattern it created. _

_Anna walks back over to where Daryl was and he raises an eyebrow at her again. "Jack Frost?" he chuckles. She snickers._

"_That was the fairytale I used to tell her when I was younger. Now she believes in him with all her heart. If it snows, she knows it's Jacks doing." She sighs. "It's be nice to actually have a Jack Frost. Maybe he and Aria would have been good friends." _

"_Ya don't know. Maybe there is. Ya just have to believe," he teases. She punches his side playfully, knowing he was joking._

"_Shut up," she says, rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. "Just because you don't believe in fairytails doesn't mean they aren't true!" she accuses._

"_It's just my opinion, jeez." She smiles and looks back out the window. A sudden idea pops into her mind. She looks at the window, then the scarf in the couch, then the rest of the winter supplies by the door._

_They were in NYC._

_During Christmas time._

_And it was snowing._

_Why were they inside doing shit?_

_She smiles and turns to her daughter. "Aria! We're heading out today!" she calls to her daughter. "Get your snow stuff on!" She squeals in excitement and runs to the door to put on her boots. Anna turns to Daryl and he's working on the tree._

"_So you're just gonna leave me here while ya and your daughter go out? Real nice Anna," he taunts. She snickers and wraps a scarf around his neck. He looks at her with a confused expression. "What're ya doing?" he asks._

"_Taking you out," she replies, a smile on her face. "We're in NYC for God's sake. It's time to show you a real Christmas."_

* * *

_Aria runs up to the Santa in the street to say hello while Anna and Daryl sat back on a bench, watching her tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. The snow was falling slowly now, not as it had been before, but there was enough snow now to make a snowman or have a snowball fight._

"_How many Santa's are there in New York?" Daryl asks, shaking his head. "There's literally one on every corner of this god damn city." Anna chuckles._

"_Because all of them are for the Salvation Army and it has been going on for years. Most of everyone donates to the buckets." He snorts._

"_Not me," he says. Anna sighs._

"_I had a feeling," she chuckles. "But, since we are in Central Park, how about we have some fun?" She calls over her daughter. "Aria? How about you go play on the playground, ok? There's a nice lady over there guarding you!" Aria nods and runs over, away from the pile of kids who were practically eating Santa up with his lap._

"_What kind of fun?" Daryl asks. Anna smiles and takes something out from her bag. When Daryl sees what it is, he shakes his head, a giant grin on his face. "A snowman? Are we five?"_

"_In the snow! Yes!" she says. She grabs his arm. "You've never even made a real snowman! And I make some pretty good ones! Come on, stop being a baby!" Daryl rolls his eyes and lets her pull him to the open area that was filled with snow._

"_We'll look retarded out her," he says. She just snorts, pulling him further._

"_Who gives a flying monkeys wet ass about what other people think? I'm showing you a good time. Now go and pack up some snow! A large one and a medium sized one. I'll make the head!" He rolls his eyes but nods._

"_Whatever ya say, princess." She growls but continues to make the head, causing him to snickers. The two work silently for a moment before Anna places the two balls he had had made on top of each other. She places the head on top and smiles, while he tips his head curiously. "That's a weirdly shaped head."_

"_It's perfect." She starts to place the supplies she had gotten on the snowman, Daryl handing her the stones and sticks. She finishes it up by topping his head off with a few sticks sticking out of the top, and a big orange carrot for the nose, praying to God that a rabbit wouldn't come by and eat it off. "There," she says, sitting back in the snow to admire her creation._

"_What're ya naming it?" he asks. She scoffs and gets up._

"_It's a he," she says, walking over to the snowman. He shakes his head at her childness. "And his name is Olaf," she says, waving the snowman's hand in a waving motion. "And he likes warm hugs!"_

"_A snowman who likes warm hugs?" he chuckles. She nods._

"_He's pretty interesting. He's always wanted to experience summer even though he thinks he won't melt because he's magical." He raises an eyebrow at her. "He was an imaginary friend I had when I was younger," she chuckles._

"_Ya give your imaginary friends weird backstorys." She nods, looking at her snowman fully. She sighs and looks at her watch on her wrist. It was 11:11. She chuckles inwardly and looks back at the snowman. 'I wish you were real,' she says to the statue. She smiles. What was she, a little kid?_

_She suddenly feels something pelt into the back of her head and sink down her jacket, into her shirt. It was freezing cold, and it melted as soon as it touched her body. She spins around and glares at Daryl, who was snickering, snow in his hand, ready to throw at her. _

_He had actually just thrown a snowball at her!_

"_THIS IS WAR!" she yells, picking up a snowball as soon as possible and throwing it to his face. She laughs as it lands on the target. When he wipes the snow off, he has a determined look on his face. _

"_Ya are so going down, Anna," he growls, running towards her. She yelps and runs the other way, picking up snow as fast as she could and throwing it at him to stop. She had managed to get in a few good throws that gave her the advantage of speed, but he was always right on top of her. They had basically run around in a circle when Anna had tripped on a spare tree root that was sticking out of the snow, loosing her track of pace and almost falling to the ground._

_How had she not seen that before?!_

_She tries to pick up her pace again, but squeals when she feels his arms wrap around her and pull her back to him. She struggles against his grasp, but it was useless. Having her around him, he takes the opportunity and dumps a huge pile of snow on her head by grabbing a tree branch and letting it fly. She squeals as the snow goes down her shirt._

"_DARYL!" she yells, rubbing the snow from her eyes. But out of pure clumsiness, she trips on her own two feet, sending her to the ground, but it wasn't just her. She had grabbed Daryl's hand and he had fallen down as well._

_Right on top of her._

_When she can see again, she blushes at the close proximity. "Why did you do that?" she chuckles. He shrugs his shoulders._

"_I wanted to. Ya wanted me to have fun, right?" She scoffs and rolls her eyes._

"_Not by tackling me with snow and sending me to the ground!" she chuckles._

"_Ya took me to the ground!" he accuses. She shakes her head._

"_No, it was you!" _

"_Nope, I don't agree on that."_

"_Well I still think you're the reason," she chuckles, leaning up slightly to get a little closer to him, even though she already was._

"_Will ya shut up?" he playfully says._

"_Make me," she chuckles, grinning at him. His own grin creeps onto his face, but he gently tucks a piece of hair hanging in front of her behind her ear, causing her already rosy cheeks to turn redder. He leans in and hesitantly pecks her lips, seeing how well she would respond. To which she does. _

_She's the first one to pull back. She smiles at him. "Merry Christmas, Daryl," she chuckles._

"_Merry Christmas…princess," he teases. She groans and faceplants, causing him to chuckle. _

"_I need to go get my kid. Come on," she says, a hand reaching out to him. He takes it, her lifting him up from the snow. But little did they know a small set of brown eyes were watching them from the playground, a smile on her face._

_Aria had gotten her wish for Christmas. _

**PRESENT**

Aria walked through the corridors of the prison early in the morning. She could never sleep late, so usually she was up and atom. Either helping Rick and Carl in the garden, practicing her knives on her bulls eye she had made, or just simply talking with other people.

There were some people there her age. But the only two people she really talked to were Beth and Carl.

Carl was her age, while Beth was 19. She considered Beth the older sister she never had. She was funny and sang really well. And also the fact that she always let Aria hold Judith. The baby was adorable.

She used to hold Scarlett like that when she was a baby. She was actually pretty cute. The perfect mixture of her parents. Had Anna's dark brown hair and Daryl's blue eyes. The traits were not that different either. She could be shy but smart, just like her mother, but also didn't stand for anyones shit, just like Daryl.

The perfect mixture.

She thought that was one of the reasons Carol had left ages ago. But she had let that go a long time ago. All she cared about was that the witch was gone and now her family could be happy.

"Aria?" she hears behind her. She was now outside. She turns around and sees her mother there, a bucket of water in her hands.

"You're never up this early," Aria comments, laughing slightly. Her mother shrugs.

"I didn't feel safe for some reason. I don't know. Must be the weather. I'm still amazed you can be out here in just a tank top. How are you not at least a little cold? It's November for crying out loud." Aria chuckles.

"I don't know. Are you helping them with the garden?" she asks. The woman nods.

"You want to?" she asks. Aria shakes her head.

"Nah. I'm gonna head around the perimeter. I've been working on something." Anna raises an eyebrow.

"Do I want to know?" she chuckles. Aria shakes her head again.

"Nope." Anna rolls her eyes and walks over to the farm. Arai chuckles and heads over to the fences to see the walkers clawing at it, dying for a piece of the survivors flesh.

Wait, they were already dead.

Aria notices a couple of girls, maybe her age, or a year younger, pointing at one of them. She walks over and hears what they're talking about, in a hush whisper.

"You stab it!" one of them whispers.

"No, you do!" she says back, shaking her head, eyes wide. Aria rolls her eyes and walks between the two, surprising them, and over to the walker that was knowing away at the fence. She takes out her knife that she used all the time and walked right up to the disgusting thing, plunging it deep into it's skull. When she pulls it back out, she wipes the gunk on her pants and turn to the girls.

"You need to learn how to not be afraid of those things," she says to the younger girls. They both nod, but the older one looks at her.

"Aren't you Anna Dixon's daughter?" she asks. Aria smiles. She still wasn't used to the last name, but she liked it.

"Yes I am." They smile.

"She's so nice to us," the younger girl says,

"Really? What're your names?" Aria asks.

"I'm Lizzie, and this is my younger sister Mika." Aria nods.

"Nice to meet you." She starts to say something else but hears a gunshot go off from inside the prison. Not even thinking, she runs towards it, seeing both her mother and Daryl run towards it as well. When she steps inside, she automatically is met by a walker. She stabs its head and avoids the teeth of another one trying to knaw at her neck. She slides under it's legs, just like her mother had taught her, and gets up. She stabs the head, and turns to the scene in front of her.

It was a mad house.

* * *

"It's some sort of sickness," Anna says later in the council room next to Daryl. "It's spread fast, but I just don't get how it spreads so quickly in one night."

"How can someone die so quickly if they were just infected?" Glenn asks. Hershel speaks up.

"It's a disease where you cough so much you choke on your own blood, and it kills you. Simple as that. That's what caused the blood marks on that mans face. He was infected with the virus."

"Is there anyway we can fix it?" Sasha asks. Anna leans a little closer as well, wanting to hear what Hershel had to say.

"We don't have the medicine right now, but I'm sure we can figure out slowly. But for now, we need to quarantine the people who weren't exposed. We can't risk anyone else getting sick."

"But out of all of us that are exposed-"

"Isn't that are whole cell block?" Daryl finishes. "That's a while lot of people. Where would we put them?" he asks.

"Cell Block A is clear, last time I checked," Anna replies, looking at the others.

"We could put them on Death Row. It isn't that much of a step up but it'll do," Glenn says. Anna nods.

"It's better. It's clean. That's all that matters," Daryl replies. Anna nods again.

"So when-" They all hear coughing in the hallway. Anna looks at Daryl worried and all of the council stands up, heading outside. Tyresse was holding a coughing Karen in his arms.

"Are you ok?" he asks her. She nods.

"I'm fine," she replies. Anna steps out.

"Are you sure?" she asks. "Where are you going?" she asks Tyreese.

"She hasn't been feeling that good, so I'm gonna take her back to my cell to get some rest." The rest of the council comes out.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Tyresse," Hershel says. Anna nods in agreement, backing up a bit to stand next to Daryl.

"Why not?" he asks confused.

"There's this sickness spreading around the prison and it's highly contagious. Some sort of coughing fit virus. It's not safe to be around someone who has it. And Karen…" Her eyes widen slightly.

"Is…Is there a cure for it or…or anything?" she asks, slightly frightened.

"There's no need to get scared. But we do need to separate the exposed people from the non-exposed so we need you to move to a different cell block until this all clears up." Karen nods, looking down.

"David was coughing as well earlier today. I think he might have it too." Hershel nods.

"I'll go tell David," Glenn volunteers, running off in the opposite direction. Sasha leads Tyreese and Karen down the other side of the hallway, and Hershel starts to leave to go find something to help this virus.

"Guess we'll get to work burying the dead," Daryl says.

"Wear a mask. Be careful, Daryl," he says. The man nods and Hershel leaves around the corner. Anna leans against the wall. Daryl turns to her.

"Ya ok?" he asks. She's silent for a second.

"Both my daughters were in there, but I don't think either of them got sick. Does that mean they stay with us?" she asks. He nods.

"They'll be with us," he assures. She looks down and sighs.

"I'm worried about Aria," she says. He looks at her with a confused expression.

"What's wrong?" he asks. She looks back.

"I shit you not when I say this, but I seriously think that she has some weird powers or something." He raises an eyebrow.

"Powers?" he says. She nods.

"Yep. I swear, almost every painting she paints comes true. I feel like she can somehow see into the future somehow, and a lot of those paintings are really bad. Like, REALLY bad. And now it seems like she's so depressed all the time ever since she found Lily dead. The two were close," she ends.

"Lily?"

"She was here for a short time before she went out and got bit. She was a close friend of mine. Aria always considered her an aunt because she was always over. I just have a bad feeling about this. All of this." He smiles sadly and comes closer to her.

"Well, whatever this is," he says. "We'll make it through together. We've made it this far, why not go all the way?" She smiles, leaning up and kissing his lips.

"You better not be infected," she says, pulling back.

"If I was, do ya think I'd be kissing ya, woman?" he replies. She chuckles and walks down the hallway with him, going to help him with the graves. "By the way, Aria is a natural at the crossbow," he replies. She smiles.

"Just like her dad," she says. He rolls his eyes, pushing her shoulder, to which she pushes his back.

**DONE BITCH! Jesus that took me long. So I tried my best with dialogue because I'm not good at remembering stuff unless Daryl said it XD so I have like no memory of lines, only what happened. But next chapter I will say that Anna is going on the trip to get the medicine for the group. And yeah, Aria is special. Very special. But you'll find that out later in the story. This chapter was kind of shorted then my past ones, but that's because I'm slightly tired and I wasn't going to fill in the chapter with some bullshit that made no sense. But I tried my hardest. I hope you enjoyed! REVIEW! **


	16. Isolation

**I have spent the whole day in the snow. My cousins had come over and we were making snowballs and snowmen. We even made the Olaf dude from Frozen. So that's why todays chapter is going to be super late. They're gong now, but this is going to be up late because it takes me so long to write chapters half the time, and because this chapter doesn't aim to have a long memory, then it's going to take me longer then it usually does. But never the less, I will finish it and post it, even if it means to lose a little sleep lol XD **

Annabelle held the tiny baby close to her chest later that day. Beth had to go off and do something quickly, so Anna was left with Judith. To be true she missed taking care of a kid. She definitely didn't want to have another baby in this world. It would be way too hard to keep safe. But holding a kid and rocking it to sleep really struck Anna's motherly instinct. But the fact that Lori was gone always had a sad feeling in her as well. The mother would never get to hold her child or anything.

She would just be watching from above.

Granted if there is an above.

Anna had always been a good catholic girl. Went to church every Sunday with her mother, even though half the time she never wanted to. She had gone to confession, said grace before eating, and did her daily prayers before she went to sleep. Even thanked God that she woke up in the morning. She was a good girl.

But now she was really starting to doubt.

Even in high school she was doubting. When she had been raped, she always wondered what did she do that she deserved this? What did she possibly say or do to someone that could be so bad that would end up in her getting touched and impregnated by a man she never knew. By a man who made her want to end her life?

She all but stopped going to church in college, only really a few times a year. She had little faith back then and still had little faith now. I mean, the dead were walking around them! Her mama always told her the dead went to heaven to watch over and protect you through life. She never mentioned the part where there corpses would come back to life and try to devour their flesh.

All she had to do was try to stay alive. Sometimes when she got lucky, she would look up to the sky and silently thank God for what he did, but then she looked back down to the word below her and just shook her head. Why would God start something like this? Were we really that bad of people? This world has just created more bad people! She still had no clue what went through this dudes head.

The child was slowly falling asleep in her arms, but she wanted to sing a little. She had heard Beth sing to the child multiple times, and usually that would send her off to dream land, but Anna wanted to try a lullaby she had used with Aria and Scarlett that always seemed to work. She had read it in a book she had gotten back for her birthday from Lily.

Lily.

The image of her friend being torn to pieces still haunt her. And it obviously haunted her eldest daughter as well. But her face. Just her face. It shook her in a way she didn't even know possible. It terrified her.

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow._

_A bed of grass, a soft green pillow._

_Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes._

_And when again they open, the sun will rise._

The baby was asleep, her eyes fully shut, and her breathing now slow. The song worked on almost any baby now. She smiles and rocks her for a few more moments.

"Having fun over there?" someone asks. Anna smiles and turns around, noticing Daryl with a bandana over his mouth. She chuckles.

"I haven't held a baby like this since Scarlett, so yeah, I'm a little happy." She walks over and takes off the bandana. "Sorry I couldn't help with a few more graves. Beth had me come in for a second to take care of the baby." He shakes his head.

"It's Lil' Asskicker. You're excused." She chuckles at the nickname. When she found out that the baby's nickname was that, she had nearly had a laughing attack. Only Daryl would come up with that stuff. She walks over to the crib that the baby slept in and gently laid her down. "Heard ya singing earlier to the baby." She looks up at him.

"You did?"

"I remember that lullaby. Used it on both your kids. Does it work on every baby?" he chuckles. She shrugs, stepping up.

"I guess so, because every baby I have ever sang it too has fallen asleep in seconds." She adjusts her jacket and walks back over to where she had put down her knives. "Maybe it's just the soothing sound of the song, or the words. I think my mom used to sing it to me."

"Could just be yer voice," he replies. "Freaken voice of an angel." She scoffs, but smiles anyway.

"You're just trying to mush me up so you can get something," she accuses, placing her knives in her holster. He rolls his eyes.

"I can't give my wife a simple compliment?" he chuckles. She shakes her head.

"Your compliments always end up with me getting pushed up against a wall or a bed with your tongue down my throat, so no, you can't." He smirks and begins to say something when a cry of anguish is heard from the prison yard. Daryl and Anna look at each other worried and rush to what the sound was. Rick was going there as well.

"Who was that?" Anna asks Rick as they ran.

"Sounded like Tyreese," he said. Anna's brow furrowed. What could be so bad that it would make Tyresse mad? That dude was tough. She had experienced it first hand on the many runs they did together. He was so down to earth half the time too, which automatically made Anna like him.

The three survivors reached their destination, and Anna could now see what had made the tough man let out a sob.

Karen and David were on the ground, dragged out, and burned. Dead.

Her hands go flying to her mouth as she contains the sob that was bound the come out. It all brought back memories.

"Do you see this?" the man asked. Rick steps forward slightly while Anna stays near the entrance from where they came from, just in case this dude lost it.

"Did you find them like this?" he asks carefully. Tyresse nods, anger evident in his expression.

"Someone dragged them out here, and burned them," he said quietly, getting up from his knees. "SOMEONE DRAGGED THEM OUT HERE, AND BURNED THEM," he repeats louder. Anna backs away slightly. She did not want to get in the way of this dudes anger. "You find the person who did this, and bring them to ME!" he says, walking up to Rick, his face very sincere in what he said. "You bring them to ME!"

"We will find who did this, Tyresse, but you have to calm down for second," Rick says, but Tyresse is still bubbling over with rage. Daryl decided to step up.

"Ty-" he starts, but the man turns around and pushes Daryl up against the wall In anger. Anna runs forward to stop him as does Rick, but Daryl puts his hands up to stop them, mostly to Anna, because he knew if she was to get to close to Tyresse, he would hurt her next. "We're the same size, man," he says back.

"Tyresse, let go of Daryl so we can figure this out-" Rick starts, but then he release's Daryl and turns his fist on Rick, who was now bleeding from the nose. Anna's eyes widen as she goes to stop Tyresse but then see Rick get up and punch him back with just as much rage. He goes to punch him again but Daryl grabs him from behind, stopping him, but he still struggles against his grip. Having finally enough, Anna grabs the gun from her holster and shoots it into the air, effectively getting the men's attention.

"Calm the fuck down," Anna says to Tyresse and Rick, who were still seething. She looks to Daryl. "Let him go." He follows and lets Rick fall to the ground, but then get back up quickly. His hands were bloodied and beaten. Anna knew they were sprained. She looks to Tyresse, determination in her eyes. "We will find who did this, and beat them to the ground. But we can't beat each other first. You want to go take out your anger, take it out somewhere else, but not on the people who are going to help you." She looks to Daryl. "Please make sure these two don't beat each other again. I have to find Beth to take care of Judith."

* * *

Aria paced around her cell, thinking about her little sister. What if she was infected with the virus that was spreading? She didn't know if she could handle putting her sister down.

She glances down at her clothes and sighs. She had put on a white tank and short with a black cover up. Her feet had her signature military boots that she had gotten years ago. They still fit her feet. She had to talk a walk and get out of the prison.

Grabbing her knife and her gun, she quickly wrote a note to her mother or anyone that came looking for her that she went into the forest to think. She was allowed to leave every once and a while to have alone time.

"Where are you going?" someone says. She looks to her doorway and sees Carl there. She looks back down and continues to write while speaking.

"I'm heading into the forest." She sees him start to think he could go with her. "For some alone time," she quickly added, knowing what he was going to ask. "My parents said that I could go every once and a while to be alone." It still felt strange-a good strange- to say the word 'parents.'

"Scarlett's been fine, you know. I don't think she'll get sick." She looks up and smiles sadly.

"You can't guarantee that Carl. I don't. We've both been exposed to it, so we could easily get sick. You haven't. I'm heading out." She turns to walk out one of the doors to leave but hears his voice one more time.

"Stay safe," he says. She looks back and nods, knowing she didn't really have time for words. She needed to get out of there.

* * *

She didn't know how long she had been walking, but she had come across a field of flowers. One where she had never seen. She knew how to get back to the prison, but this was truly a sight to see.

She sits down in them, looking at the flowers. They were white lilies. Her favorite flower. She used to pick them when they grew in Central Park when she was a kid. She would put them in books, her hair, a vase, anything to keep them in her life. They represented purity, and hope.

Something that was hard to find in this world.

She gingerly picks one and puts it in her hair, savoring the smell it let off. She remembers. The summer nights, the chilly mornings, the playfulness.

She missed Billy so much.

He used to put the flowers in her hair when they were kids.

Her first ever friend.

Her first ever crush.

She was hoping he was going to be her boyfriend, but then shit hit the fan.

She gets up from her spot on the ground and stares at the trees that were in the distance, a flower in her hand, dangling in her fingers, holding on for dear life before she could drop it. The memories, the walker, the guts, the tears. Billy.

The flower dropped.

Gone.

She turns around, takes a deep breath, and walks through the forest.

Life went on.

She had learned.

Grieving was just a part of it.

* * *

Anna sat back outside, trying to fix one of the water pumps. She had never seen more muck in her life then in these. The occasional walker had come around, but she quickly ended it undead life then and there.

She had gotten used to calling them walkers.

Lurkers still popped out every once and a while, but being near people who called them walkers for over five months stuck it in her brain. They were now officially walkers.

She heard someone come up to her but she continues to work on trying to get the water out. She doesn't look at the person until it crouches down to her eye level and she see that it's Daryl. She stops her work for a moment.

"There was a council meeting," he says. She sighs.

"I know, just didn't want to go. Needed to burn off some steam, I guess." He sits next to her in the position that read 'What the hell are ya talking about?' She smiles sadly and looks back to the pump. "The thought of someone who was that evil to do something like that makes me sick. And when I find that person, I might just take your crossbow and put an arrow in its head." He chuckles.

"Funny, I said the same thing to Tyresse." She smiles. They were like that.

"Tells you something about how long we've known each other. You're starting to rub off on me, Dixon," she teases. "But exactly what did you talk about? Cause I feel bad not being there to help."

"The virus is most contagious to children and elderly, so we're separating 'em." She looks up, scared that the word children had come up. "Remember, Aria and Scarlett are exposed. Too late to lock 'em away from ya." She sighs.

"I wish they weren't. God I hope nothing bad happens to them," she groans, heading back into the pump but also talking to Daryl. "So what else? Anything about how to cure this shit?"

"Michonne, Bob and I are heading to the veterinary college to get the supplies we need." She turns to him.

"Then I'm coming with you. And don't even start about me not going. You already prevented me from going on the raid the other day. You're not stopping me this time." He sighs in defeat, his hand on his head.

"I know," he says, rather exasperated. "I can't stop ya." He smirks up at her. "Miss. Can't-Be-Tamed." She growls at the name.

"I had horrible taste in music," she mumbles, causing him to snicker. "What about Tyresse? Is he going?" He shrugs.

"I gave him the offer but he was in too much of a rage to even think about it. He was so mad. The person who did this is either psycho, or wanted to prevent the disease from spreading, which they did a shit job of doing." She chuckles.

"Amen to that." She's silent for a moment. "They were so nice…they could have lived. Hershel was coming up with a plan and they could have survived. Who would do this?" she cries silently. Daryl places and arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She was calm in a matter of seconds.

"I'm sure whoever did had a reason, but it just wasn't the right ones. But right now, we have to focus on getting out of here and getting the meds so we can fix this." She looks up at him, dark brown eyes locking with light blue. She nods slowly, and leans up and pecks his lips.

He replies and his arm slides to her waist, pulling her even closer to him. She chuckles and kisses deeper, her hands getting caught in his messy, tangled hair. She pulls back before they could go any further, a smirk on her face. "See? You always have your tongue down my throat." He rolls his eyes. "But we should probably get to the car and head out. If we don't something is bound to happen." She leans in and pecks his lips once more. "I'll go tell Scarlett and Aria."

* * *

Aria leans back on a couch in a deserted office. Her mother had told her she was heading off with Daryl and some others to go and get medicine. She had sighed and nodded, knowing she couldn't stop her mother, just like her mother couldn't stop her from going into the woods.

Lately she had been feeling depressed. She just wanted to get away from it all. To hide herself in a corner and never come out. All the memories came back to her one day and it all started up again. She couldn't stand it.

"_Oh, look. It's Miss No-Talent. Did you hear about her bombed audition?" someone whispered as Aria walks by to her locker. She closed her eyes, willing for tears not to fall out. They would never see her cry. Never. She was strong._

_She failed an audition. Cracked up in front of the professors and ran off the stage, crying. She had finally broke. The means girls, Hailey and Bailey, twin sisters, who were the major dance bitches there, had seen the whole thing. They took a video, uploaded it to the schools network, and now everyone in the whole school knew about her breakdown. _

_Everyone made fun of her because of one little mistake she made. _

_And now she was forever known as Miss. No-Talent._

_People would corner her and say she would never become what she was going to be. Never be the star. That's why she had left the performing arts district school she was in and went to a private one. The one where Billy went. She was free from the mean girls._

_But before this happened, she went through a whole year of name calling, being pushed around, and being known as the person who cracked and fell under pressure._

_She had started to paint what she wanted to happen to them. She wanted Hailey to get hit by a truck. She wanted Bailey to get shot. She wanted the whole dance team to get eaten by a tiger from the Bronx zoo. Anything that would get these horrible people out of her life. Anything at all. _

_When she had went to her new school, she felt a wave of relief come over her. They were no longer there, and the grudge she had towards them slowly disappeared. She hid her paintings from her mother. She didn't want her to see them._

_But one day she heard on the news a car crash had happened on 5__th__ avenue, involving the death of a 15 year old. Another day, she heard about a school shooting, where ten people had been killed, including a 16 year old female with dark blonde hair. A few weeks later, a 17 year old women getting mauled to death by a wildcat at the zoo. She had been tormenting it with a hamburger._

_The cat snapped. _

_And ate her instead._

Aria had never thought of herself being special. Hell, the only thing special about her was the fact that she could paint like Picasso at the age of 15. But she never really found something weird about her or stupefying that would make people's heads turn. Her body wasn't even that great. It was a typical 15 year old body. Except a little skinnier.

But she had started to notice how different things were ever since the sadness started a little. The paintings she drew, the dreams she had, even the thoughts she thought, came true. All of them coming true.

Her flower painting had come true today. She was the girl in the painting. She was the person staring out into the distance. She was 'No-Face.'

So that meant that some of the others would come true too.

And she had no clue which ones.

They all seemed to decide which one would come true. Some of the paintings were happy. Some extremely sad. Some terrifying.

And that's when the depression kicked in.

That any of those terrible moments could happen.

And that's also when she realized she had a gift: she could see into the future. She could have visions and see what was bound to happen. What she should tell people to avoid.

But she just didn't know which vision was correct. She would have a million, but had no clue which one would happen. Same with the paintings.

Absolutely no fucken clue.

And she had also noticed that since this started, whenever she walked into a room, the temperature seemed to drop 50 degrees. It would get colder, colder than it should be in Georgia in the summer or even in November.

She had no clue what was going on with her body.

All she knew was that she was one messed up chick.

She had seen her sister frequently 'talking' to her imaginary friend. She was the reason behind that. But every kid needed one. It was healthy.

Aria rose from the couch and looked out the window to where she could see the car leaving for the medical supplies. Her heart ached to be with them. To protect her mother and to keep her alive. She couldn't imagine losing her. She couldn't.

She puts her hands against the window frame and sighs. If only. When she looks down, she rips her hands away in horror and stares at the windowsill, the exact spot where her hands had been.

Ice.

* * *

Paint strokes followed the little girls movements as she continued to paint on the canvas in her special room. Aria had come in here a few times, but not as much as the little girl. She turns to her friend and smiles. She was her age, white-blonde hair, blue eyes, and a matching blue dress. Scarlett wished she could look like her.

"What next, Elsa?" she asks. Elsa thinks for a moment before pointing upward.

"There," she says. Scarlett nods and paints a flower up in the corner, which had dazzling blue icicles hanging off of it. She turns to her Elsa and frowns.

"Why can't anyone else see you?" she asks. Elsa shrugs.

"You have a gift. No one else can see me besides you. But I'm happy with that." Scarlett shrugs and goes back to her painting. At least Elsa was her friend.

* * *

The five passengers in the car drove silently to the veteran college. Anna had her head near the window that was slightly open. She felt the wind blow into her face. She felt free for the first time in forever. Michonne was sitting next to her and Daryl was in the driver's seat. Bob was in the back, and Tyresse was looking down, still pissed off.

"Anna, are ya in 'La La Land' over there?" Daryl asks. Anna chuckles.

"Maybe. It's a lot more fun than down here. You know, we find all these cars, and yet we never play any music. I'm sure there's a CD somewhere in this car."

"Music would be nice," Bob says from the back. Anna looks in the glove department and pulls out a CD, a grin on her face. Daryl look at it and chuckles, shaking his head.

"Ya and Michael Jackson," he snickers, turning on the radio. But stops when he hears a voice on the radio. All of the inhabitants of car hear it as well.

"Was that a voice?" Bob says. Daryl shushes him and listens closely, Anna listening as well.

"Sanctuary….those who arrive…survive." Anna and Daryl look at each other with a glimmer of hope in there eyes, but then Daryl notices a lone walker in the street. He grabs the steering wheel and forcefully turns to avoid crashing into it, and stops. Anna's eyes widen.

There was a shit ton of walkers in front of them. All gathering around.

"Hold on to something!" he yells, backing up quickly. Anna holds onto her seat for dear life, then turns to Daryl when they are far enough to get out. "Don't stop for nothing! Just keep going…go!" he says. Anna jumps out of the seat and into the forest, crashing her knife into a walkers head.

More clam towards her, and she hits each and every one of them, not looking back for a second. She follows what he says in these situations. She throws her knives anywhere, and retrieves them as soon as it hit's their target. She slid under one of the walkers legs and gets up quickly, plunging the edge into the skull.

She runs quickly to the opening, grabbing Daryl's hand in the process. She runs through the bushes while he takes care of a few more with his crossbow. Michonne and Bob were right behind them.

When they are clear, Anna stops and leans on her knees, catching her breath. "That wasn't fun," he groans, getting up and wiping off her pants. She noticed Tyreese wasn't with them.

"When is it ever fun, Anna?" Daryl asks, loading his crossbow up and trying to get another walker, but was stopped when a machete goes deep into its head killing it. Tyreese was right behind it.

Daryl runs forward and grabs the man while Anna throws a knife into the other walker's skull. She gets it from the gooey mess and turns to Daryl with the others. "Let's go," he says. She nods, and with one last glance at the walkers staring to come from the opening, she runs off with the others, not another glance back. She didn't have time for looking back now.

**Don't Look Back. XD that slogan is actually my Facebook profile now. I love it. Even though in the picture both Carl AND Rick are looking back. So I've recently become obsessed with Bethyl. Don't worry, I am no abandoning this story. I love my Daryl/OC's with a passion, and I kind of still want that to happen on the show. But Beth and Daryl I just can't. They are just so cute together and I don't give a flying fuck about the age gap. It's the apocalypse, who cares anymore? And she's also an original character to the show, so they might work with that. It's possible.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Aria and Scarlett are turning out to be very different from most people. And yeah, I got inspiration from Frozen for this a little. I just love that movie. REVIEW!**


	17. Indifferent Powers

**Now don't get me wrong. I am thoroughly enjoying writing this story. Personally, I think it is one of the best stories I've ever written for a TV show. But I would REALLY appreciate it that people review more. I come home from school and I see none and I get disappointed because they used to come to normally. You people have spoiled me with reviews. XD But really, it helps and it makes me better as a writer, and having reviews also brightens my day. I had this one reviewer who was reviewing every chapter and now she's like out of here. Sorry if this sounds mean, but I sincerely just wanted to express my opinion. **

**Anyway, now we are moving onto the story, following into the plotline of 'Indifference' but instead of the Carol and Rick plotline in the show, I'm gonna focus on the kids, because obviously Carol is gone (thank God) but who burnt them? I have a bit of a twist up my sleeve, but trust me, it's not bad. And I know what you're thinking. No, it's not Anna or the kids. But something is up. On with the story!**

"_Aria, would you stop fidgeting?" Anna laughs as she tries to fit the pajama top over the annoying three year olds head. Aria frowns and moves her head near her pillow, away from the hole that would consume her and send her to sleep._

"_No! I want to stay up!" Anna slumps and thinks for a second. What did people do to get three year olds to sleep. She smiles. Bribery._

"_How about if you go to sleep now, when you wake up tomorrow morning, we can have chocolate chip ice cream with a ton of whipped cream on top?" She grabs the shirt and puts it over her head quickly, and then settles into the covers, making her mother laugh brightly._

"_Gwoodnight!" she says, closing her eyes. Anna rolls her eyes and leans down, pecking her forehead._

"_Goodnight, sweetie," she says, getting up from her bed and walking out to the hallway, closing the door behind her. She goes into her room and takes off the clothes she was wearing, putting on her pajama pants and her black tank top that she usually wore to bed. She puts her hair up in a ponytail and runs downstairs, humming an N'SYNC song in her head._

_She had fallen for the boy band._

_She didn't think she would._

_But she did._

_And now she was completely fucked, because she had 'Bye, Bye, Bye' stuck in her head. And it wasn't leaving anytime soon. Then again, Justin Timberlake was only 2 years older than her, and he was SEXY. A voice like a fucken GOD. She hoped he would pursue a solo career in the future. She could see him selling out stadiums._

_And he was the most loved out of that band._

_She walks to the kitchen and grabs a knife to slice a piece of pepperoni that she had ordered previously. Taking a bite quickly, she looks at the note one more time. The one her mother had left her before she came home to nothing. _

"_Annabelle,_

_I'm heading out tonight for the meeting in NYC now. I'm sorry I have to leave you alone with Aria, but this interview is much more important."_

_Anna snorts. She always thought that family was the most important thing to love and to hold in this world. Apparently, her mom thought very differently._

"_I left $100 dollars on the counter for you to spend. You should go out with Aria and get something good to eat. Maybe Emmi's?" _

_Fuck that. She was happy with the cheesy goodness of the freshly backed pizza. Emmi's was way too expensive, even for her taste. Plus, the food was too sophisticated. She likes hotdogs and ribs, not lamb and caviar. _

"_Be safe and I love you._

_Mom."_

_Anna rolls her eyes and throws the note in the trash. If she loved her, she wouldn't have left her daughter home alone to take care of her baby. She was always there on nights._

_She knew her mother didn't like Aria. And Aria didn't like her. Anna barely liked her mother. She barely did anything. All she did was go to meetings and have one worded conversations with Anna. They were never close. Maybe when Anna was a kid, but not now._

_And she knew she would be gone for more than the weekend. Her mother had been cheating on her loving father for the past year with a wealthy business man. He worked in the ESB in NYC. Anna was impressed, but this was her father. She loved him more than her mother, even though she wasn't that close with him either. Besides, they were rich off their asses already. Why cheat with a rich dude?_

_She would never cheat on the person she loved._

_Then again, she had never had a boyfriend. A real one. Never experienced love. Maybe it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. _

_She had had dates, plenty o f them. Guys would knock on her door and call her up. Even the ones at school who weren't bullying her or calling her names. But none of them seemed like Mr. Right. Not one looked like he would be the one. She wanted someone like that. Even though she barely ever hung around guys._

_In fact, the only guy she ever really did hang around was Daryl, and that's because they had been friends with each other since they were kids. Everyone else just seemed to be like a total asshole._

_She sits down on her couch and flicks on the TV, having another bite of her pizza. Her eyes flicker to to screen to a 'Men In Black' trailer and she smiles. THOSE were her kind of movies. Action and adventure. And Will Smith. Yummy Will Smith._

_She settles to get back into the mood to watch the movie that was going to be playing, but only fornwed when she saw exactly what it was._

_Titanic._

_She groans, shaking her head. But she sits back, knowing that at this hour, there was really nothing else on but this gooey shit. But she cringes when she sees exactly what scene the movie was coming back to. _

_The sex scene. _

_She groans and glares at the screen. "Spoiler: They both die!" she says bitterly, viciously tearing into her pizza and taking a bite. She hated these movies. She hated romance and mushy and gooey and just UGH. She likes Sci-Fi. Horror, and Adventure, not love shit._

_Then again, who wouldn't want to screw Leonardo DiCaprio? He was smoking._

_Perfect._

_He was too perfect for her and her damaged self. For an 18 year old who already had a 3 year old daughter. Everyone one just too perfect for her. She didn't deserve._

_Maybe she would just go lesbo with Lily and fuck all men. _

_Nah, she was too into guys to even think about that. _

_But that didn't stop her from glaring at the screen when Rose goes to caress his face. "Back off, Rose," she growls. "He's mine," she jokes, taking a sip of her water._

_Pshh. In her dreams._

_She heard a knock on the door and her brow furrows. It was nearly twelve at night. Who would be here at this time? Maybe it was the boogyman. _

_She wasn't afraid of that anymore. She had powers. She could kick it's ass. _

_She places her plate next to her on the couch points her finger at one of the candles. Almost instantly, fire popped out of the skin and landed on the wick of the candle. She might have been through a lot of crap in the past few years, but getting these weird powers were her highlight. Now she could actually threaten all the bullies at school with these fire powers. _

_She was such a weird kid._

_What kind of supernatural bitch was she?_

_She walks over to the door and quickly looks out the side window. No car. Who had walked all the way to her house in the middle of the night?_

_Her hand reaches for the knob but stops quickly. What if it was Jack? Or someone here to hurt her? Her fears were coming back up her body, sending goosebumps and shivers all up and down her skin. But she shook her head. She was powerful now. She could take on whoever was there, and with that final thought, she opens the door._

* * *

_Anna searches through the medical supplies in her fathers kit, trying to be as quick as possible. She couldn't keep this waiting. She had been trained and she would fix this._

_She runs back to the kitchen, kit in hand, sitting in front of Daryl._

_A very, __**very, bloody**__ Daryl._

"_Jesus, Daryl….you can't keep letting this happen," she cries, wiping the blood tenderly from his face, trying to get all the cuts clean so they wouldn't get infected with something. He shrugs his shoulders, but cringes slightly while doing it. Her eyes move downward."Where?" she asks quietly._

"_Back," he replies. She nods and goes for his shirt to see the dangerous gashes his father had inflicted on him, but his hands meet hers, stopping her in her tracks. "Don't. I don't need ya seeing this." She stares at him, trying to figure out what he was playing._

"_Daryl, let go of my hands."_

"_Anna-"_

"_Let. Go. Of. My. Hands," she grits through her teeth He stares at her for a moment before sighing and looking down, lowering his hands back into his lap. But instead of hers reaching under his shirt to take it off, they bring his face up to meet hers. She locks her eyes with him. "Please, Daryl."_

_She was asking permission._

_She was __asking__. __**Permission.**_

_He breathes a shaky breath and nods. He trusted her. He knew she would do the right thing. "Does this involve those powers of yours?" he chokes out. She sighs._

"_For these, yeah. The heat will help with the morphine, and make it less painful. Trust me. I know what I'm doing," she says. She goes to his back and slowly takes off his bloody shirt, throwing it in the garbage, knowing there was no use in trying to wash it. She takes in the scars and gashes. These were the worst she had ever seen._

"_Jesus," she whispers so low that Daryl didn't even hear. "I'm gonna put the morphine in, ok? And then the hand will come on." He nods, weakly. She had never seen him drained of so much energy. It broke her heart. _

_She injects the needle into his body and then places her already warmed hand on his back. She feels him cringe for a second, a strain of curses coming out of his mouth for a moment, making Anna smile, but he relaxes a second later, the medicine and the heat from her kicking in. "This has to stop. You may still be in high school, but this can't go on anymore. You can't go back." She cleans up the blood with some rubbing alcohol quickly and starts to stitch them up slowly._

"_Got nowhere else to go." She shakes her head. _

"_I don't give a flying fuck. Anywhere is better then there." She finishes up one of the gashes, effectively stopping the bleeding, and moves onto the next one, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. "I don't care if it's under a fucken highway, you can't go back." She reaches for another string. "You're staying here until my mama comes back from NYC. We got an extra room. When she does, I'm finding you a place. Doesn't matter if school is still going on. You're 23. You need to leave that house."_

"_Is it true yer heading to NYU? For real?" She was surprised by the sudden question, but nods sadly._

"_I wish I could take you with me," she whispers, finishing up one of the gashes. "But I can't stay in the small town Georgia forever. My dreams are too big for this town. God that sounded so cheesy." He chuckles weakly against her._

"_City life ain't for me. Just got no clue what I'm gonna do when yer gone. I think I'll go insane." She smiles but then thinks of something. She finishes up the gash and grabs the bandage wrapping it slowly around his body, making sure to steer clear of any of the cuts. _

"_I have an idea," she says._

"_Stay down here?" he says a bit too hopefully. She rolls her eyes and tucks in the bandage, moving to be in front of him, looking at his face._

"_Take care of Aria." His eyes widen._

"_What?" he yells. She puts up her hands, telling him to calm down mentally. He slumps against his seat, waiting for her to go on._

"_You care for her just as much as I do. My mother doesn't give a shit about her. You can be her guardian, send her to school, take care of her while I'm gone. I'm getting you your own place, and she's staying with you when I'm gone. Please, Daryl. You're like a father to her." _

"_Anna-" To stop him from talking, she leans in and pecks him lips, causing his eyes to widen when she pulls back. She smiles._

"_Please?" she asks sweetly. He stares at her for a second and then sighs, shaking his head._

"_Fine," he replies. She smiles and gently pulls him into a hug, which he gingerly replies too, wrapping his arms around her. She gently pulls back as well and gets up, grabbing the shirt she had gotten from upstairs. She throws it too him. _

"_Put this on," she says. He puts it on slowly and Anna smiles, looking to the stairs but freezing when she sees Aria coming down. "Aria, what are you doing up?" Daryl hears this and puts the shirt on completely, covering his bandaged body._

"_I couldn't sleep," she replies, rubbing her eyes. She looks to the kitchen and her eyes brighten slightly at seeing Daryl. "Dwaryl!" she yells, running up to him. Anna's eyes widen as the kid jumps into his arms, causing him to cringe more in pain a little. But he settles down and takes her easily into his arms._

"_Hey, kid. Why are ya up?" he asks._

"_I couldn't get to sleep because of the boogeyman," she whimpers. Anna rolls her eyes. Here we go again._

**Present**

Aria had her hand on her mouth as she stared at the ice that covered the windowsill. Had she done that? Had she actually made ice come out of her?

She removes her hand and stares at it for a second. Her eyes narrow slightly and she stares back out the window. Then, in the same direction, she waves her hand, and ice and snow comes pouring out of it, hitting the wall.

She falls down on her back and puts her head in her hands. No. This was a dream. This was not happening. There was no way in hell she had ice powers. No way.

"Aria?" someone asks from above. "Are you ok?" She looks up and see Scarlett looking down at her concerned. She looks to the window and sees the snow. "Did you do that?" she asks. Aria nods slowly, her head pounding.

"Yeah…I did."

"Cool! You have powers….like a superhero! You could be like Frozo from Incredibles! Or Elsa!" Aria gets up and walks over to the little girl.

"So Elsa has these powers too, huh? Well, tell her to show them to me," Scarlett nods like its nothing, Aria raises an eyebrow at the girl, who turns to nothing.

"Elsa, make it snow!" she exclaims gleefully. Aria shakes her head and begins to walk out when she feels tiny particles of white fall onto her hand. She turns around and sure as hell, it was snowing on the inside right now.

"How?" she breathes.

"I told you. Elsa makes it snow. But only I can see her. I wonder why. Her gift is cool." Aria nods, walking over to the snowcloud above them. "I can see Aunt Lily too."

Aria freezes (no pun intended) in her tracks and stares at Scarlett.

"You…you can?" she asks, amazed. Scarlett nods.

"Yeah! She's standing right behind you!" She looks closer. "She's saying that she misses you a lot, and that she wishes she could be by your side through this difficult time with your powers. Oh! She says mama has fire powers!"

"Fire powers?!"

"Yeah! She can teach you how to control them and tell you how you got them. She also says that you should go after Carl. She sees the way you look at him." Aria feels blush rising in her cheeks, but she was too amazed at the fact that her younger, six year old sister, was saying all of this.

"What else is she saying?" she whispers.

"She says she loves you very much. And she wants to see you survive this, to get rid of the depression and move on. There's more to life then grieving. Em…Embrass your powers and become a…a hero! She wants you to help people. Oh, she has to go now. She says she'll be watching from above."

Aria feels a tear slip down her cheek, but she quickly wipes it away. "Bye, Lily," she whispers.

"She says bye, too." Suddenly, something clicks in Aria.

"Scarlett, has Elsa said how old she is?"

"270 years old. She is from the kingdom of Arendelle…and…and she was ki..killed in a boating accident on the river."

"That's it!" Aria screams, coming in front of Scarlett. "Do you realize what powers we have?" she asks. Scarlett shakes her head.

"No."

"Scarlett…I can see into the future…and you can talk to the dead."

* * *

The group that was on the way to the prison walked along a dirt path. Anna would glance around her every once and while, back at the three people behind Daryl and herself. Sometimes she would just stay quiet. Her voice seemed to have died when she went through that herd of walkers.

"Ya know, something's been on my mind for a while," Daryl says to her quietly. She leans in closer, indicating she's listening. "Have ya told the kids about your powers?" She sighs.

"No, I've gone this long without telling them, why start now?"

"Anna, what if they have powers like ya do? Ya can't keep this a secret forever." She groans.

"I know that, but I'll tell them when and if I have time. I don't think now is the right time to start telling them. They've been through so much, and me telling them I have these weird fire powers would be dangerous to their minds."

"Ya haven't even told the group yet."

"And I don't plan to. Look, I love the group, but this is something I'm not proud of. I can't stand the fact I have these. If fucken Gilly didn't get possessed I wouldn't have these. I haven't used them in over a year. I plan to keep it that way." He looks ahead in front of them.

"Kind of dumb." She rolls her eyes.

"Well, dumbs my middle name half the time." She looks ahead of her and smiles. "Look, there's a truck!"

* * *

Anna searches through the remaining auto shop, trying to find a battery that might work in their situation. The car they had found was dead, and they needed to get to this college as soon as possible.

Searching through the shelves, the conversation with Daryl from earlier was still fresh on her mind.

It wasn't like she didn't want to tell them. It just scared her to. It would be like laying a giant test in front of you that you didn't even know was going to happen and you had no time to study. She had a feeling her daughters had powers. Had a feeling since they were kids. But right now was not the time to talking about them. Right now was the time to be getting the supplies they needed to get back to prison.

"Anna, we got one," Daryl says a moment later. She nods and walks out with them. A few seconds later she runs into a walker, but measly plunges her knife into it's head. She was getting so sick of these fuckers.

Anna sat down on the step. Her powers ached in her. She wanted to let them go so badly, but for some reason she just couldn't. Something inside her was preventing her from doing so.

She gets up and walks over to the car Daryl was working on and leans against it secretly, trying not to gain his attention. Slowly, she grabs the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, surprising him, and places it in hers, taking a long drag,

"Been a long time since ya did that, huh?" he says, going back. She nods.

"I'm a singer. I shouldn't be smokin', but in times like these, I just say fuck it." She's silent for a second. "Do you really think I should tell them?" He looks back up, nodding.

"Yeah, I do." She nods and hands him back the cigar, sighing. "See if it's working now," he replies. She nods again and heads into the car, turning the key. She smiles as it bursts to life. Daryl claps and whistles the others over. They were on their way again.

* * *

Anna loaded up her bag with supplies at the college, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. Something about the place didn't seem right to her.

"Do we have everything we need?" Anna asks, setting her bag down on the table. She had also discreetly grabbed a few bottles of Tylenol. She had been getting massive headaches since the start of this whole thing.

The group nods and begins to leave when walkers start to come through the doors, some actually getting in. "Ah, shit," Anna mumbles, taking off with the others. More kept coming and coming, all trying to get a bite of their skin, but Anna kept plunging her knives, deeper and deeper. She needed to let some anger out. These were the dummies she would be doing it on.

"There's no exit!" Michonne says, trying to get the door to open next to her,

"We make one," Daryl replies. Tyreese nods and throws something against the giant glass window in there, breaking it instantly. Anna runs up and Daryl grabs her hand, helping her out of the death trap that was now the college. She jumps onto the roof on the opposite side, sitting down for a minute. She checks herself over. No bites. No scratches. She was clean.

The others come out one by one. Bob is the last one to come out, but when he jumps, his bag goes flying in the other direction, to where there were more walkers. He grabs it and tries to yank it back, but the walkers had a firm grip on it. Anna and the other go to help him.

"Let it go, Bob," Tyreese says. 'How ironic, didn't we use those words earlier with him?' Anna thinks. She pulls harder and harder, but Bob won't let go. Eventually, they all go flying backwards, the bag goingto the other side. Daryl walks over to pick it up, but notices that instead of medicine inside, it was a bottle of alcohol.

"So instead of meds ya got this?" Daryl says angrily to Bob. He just stood there, staring at the ground in shame. "Ya should of kept walking," he says, and begins to throw the bottle out of sight. But when Anna hears Bob's hand go to his gun, her heart stop.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she mumbles under her breath. 'All this for a bottle of alcohol?'

Daryl sees this and comes up to him, shoving his face all up in his. And even though Anna had known him for year, she would be terrified if she was in Bob's position. Then again, she wouldn't be that stupid to do that.

"Daryl, let it go. Obviously the man's made his choice," Anna says, trying to calm the situation before it could get out of hand. Daryl glares at the man.

"Ya take one sip of that, and I will stomp yer ass into the ground." He forcefully puts the bottle back in his hands and gets off the roof, walking back to the car. Anna glares at him, and then shakes her head.

"A bottle of what? Wine? What the hell is wrong with you?" she says, walking back as well. It was retarded.

* * *

Anna was sitting in the back of the truck The very back. It was a pickup truck. She wanted to feel the breeze coming against her face. Her anger slowly melting away.

Daryl was in the passengers seat, and he would glance back at Anna sometimes in the side-view mirror. No matter how pissed off he would be, that girl would always get into his mind. He really did wonder when she was gonna just let it all go.

Anna wondered too. How long was it until she just let it fly. She needed to release more.

They were passing several tree's, a forest to be exact. Anna looks at her finger and flicks one up. A flam ignites. She smiles and extends her whole hands, creating a small fire ball. She looks to the trees , and without a single second thought, throws it at the top of one, setting it on fire.

That was all her anger, evaporating out of her.

She wouldn't let it happen again.

But for the rest of the trip, she played with her tricks and her hands, creating new patterns of flames. This was her. Maybe one day she could truly show it.

**So I actually had no clue where the thought of Anna having fire powers came to me. It think I just randomly thought about it in school today. But I thought since her daughters have these weird powers, why not the mother? So I'm going in supernatural territory here because I've always wondered how exactly that would fit into a zombie apocalypse. So I decided to change it up into a different kind of story. But don't worry. Anna is not the killer, even if she had fire powers. She is not the killer. But I will say that shit will go down in the next chapter. And Aria will be getting revenge on someone she really just doesn't like. Hope you enjoyed! PLEASE REVIEW! I 3 U!**


	18. Demons

**So I actually have not really described what the characters are and who they look like. I picture real life people as the people in this. These are my picks for who I think my character would suit, so don't judge me. **

_Annabelle Williams:_ Emma Watson (Obviously she's older in this, but I just completely love her. And also with long hair, not her pixie cut)

_Aria Williams: _Chloe Moretz (with brown hair)

_Scarlett Williams: _Abigail Breslin when she was younger. (Link: post/490825323/abigail-breslin-as-patty-branson-law-and-order)

_Joey: _Joey Graceffa (I just had too)

_Jack: _Liam Hemsworth (I really don't like him, no offence to anyone who loves him)

_Lily: _Lily Collins

_Elsa (ghost): _Isabelle Allen (in _Les Mis_)

**I think that's about it for my OC's. Again, these are my choices. You don't have to imagine the characters like these, but I do. Ok, so on with the story. This chapter will mostly explain how Anna got her powers in the first place through a series of flashbacks. Also the kids. But I also wanted to get back to the main storyline as well, so this is more or less a filler chapter because two of the episodes are for the governor so I'm doing this. If you want to skip that cool but I want to explain this and then get back to the storyline. Let's get started.**

* * *

Aria paces around a cell that was far away from others. Her sister was on the bed drawing in her book, while leaving enough space for Elsa to sit next to her. Aria still couldn't see the little girl that had died years ago, but now that she had full confirmation that her sister could see the dead, she could definitely feel the presence on the bed.

"Aria why are you so worried?" Scarlett asks, glancing up from her notebook. Aria stares at her for a second.

"We just found out that we have powers, mom has fire powers, and I have ice powers. Does that not confuse you at all?" Scarlett shrugs and goes back to her drawing.

"I've seen a lot," she says. "Aunt Lily, Grandma, Billy-"

"Billy?!" Aria yells, leaning against the wall. Scarlett nods.

"He said he loves you and that he's always by your side, but he wants you to move on and find a new life. There's more to life then wallowing around and waiting for the person who is gone." Aria was slightly shocked, but she still raised an eyebrow at her six year olds sisters words.

"He told you all of that?" She nods.

"Uh huh! He really misses you, but you have to let go in order for him to move on. His words, not mine." Aria nods, her heart racing. Does that mean he was with her right now?

She shakes her head and gets off the wall, taking a deep breath, putting her hands against her temples. "Ok…I have powers….ice powers…I can freeze things with my hands and make it snow…my mom can make fire…wait." She turns to her sister. "I can make ice, mom fire, but what about you? Can you do anything besides…um…seeing people?" Scarlett nods.

She stomps her foot on the ground and a giant piece of stone comes barreling out of the ground, blocking the doorway. Aria jumps back, her hands flying to her mouth.

She could control the earth. Rocks and stone.

"Ice, Fire, Earth," Aria whispers. She throws her arms up. "What is this? 'That Last Airbender?' Who's the wind bender?" She chuckles bitterly and looks down at her hands. "I can't believe this," she says, her hands reaching out to the door, but found the stone still in her way. "Scarlett, can you…?"

"Yeah," she says, stomping her foot again. The stone goes back into the ground and Aria shakes her head. This was impossible. She had to be dreaming. There was no way. But why did the ice feel so real underneath her fingers?

"Scarlett, how long have you know you've had these powers?"

"For a year, ever since this started." Aria nods slowly, leaning against one of the big windows, taking another shaky breath.

"I can't fucken believe this," she whispers. She thinks back to the past, thinking of anytime that these powers may have happened, but the only time she could remember was just n hour ago. This was just…terrifying, yet actually really amazing.

She could control ICE.

Her mother FIRE.

Wait, her mother fire.

Why hadn't she told her and her sister? What was so bad about it? It sounded really cool!

Now that she thought about it, her mother's hands were always warmer than others. Her hugs always a bit more comforting and heat supplied. She had thought her mother was always sick half the time because she was always burning up, but now she realized the truth.

And she wanted to know why her mother didn't tell her.

"Aria, Elsa wants to show you something!" Aria sighs and goes to her sister.

"Scarlett, I can't see Elsa. Only you can." Scarlett shakes her head.

"Not what she says! Stay there and don't move!" she says, Aria sighs and stands in the middle of the cell, waiting for something to happen. She didn't know how she thought her sister could see this little girl, but she would do anything to make her happy while her mother was gone.

But then suddenly she felt a presence in front of her, and her hands were grabbed. She gasps and starts to back away, but the hands had a form grip on her. They were cold, just like hers. She glances down at the hands that had no body.

"_Blink," _she heard in her head. Almost as if on impulse, she blinked quickly, and nearly screaned when she saw the suddenly young girl in front of her, her blue eyes sparkling and a giant grin on her face. This was Elsa.

She looked exactly like the Snow Queen.

She was REAL?

Aria breathes in and out, hoping this wasn't some weird dream. This girl had existed, and she was Scarlett's friend. And she was holding her hand. She was a dead girl who now roamed the earth, and she was holding her hands. And she had the same powers.

She had the s_ame powers._

"_There's no need to be afraid, Aria," _the girl speaks in a voice so angelic that Aria could have sworn she could see angel wings behind her. _"You have a great gift. There is so much beauty in this. Your power is going to come of hand in the future, sooner rather than later. It will save people you love, hurt people you hate, and protect you more than any other knife or gun you have. Don't be afraid to let it go. If you don't everything bad will happen. You need to let it go." _Aria nods.

This girl was actually very smart.

Then again she had been roaming the earth for the past 207 years. She had probably picked up on all the words and wisdom.

"Will I be able to see you now?" she asks. The girl nods.

"_Only when you want to. I am Scarlett's companion. I will be with her for a long time. Let it go, Aria." _ And the hands disappeared. Elsa was no longer in her vision. She looks around and only see her sister, who was staring at her curiously.

"What did she say?" she asks. Aria raises an eyebrow.

"You didn't hear any of that?" she asks, shocked. Scarlett shakes her head.

"I can see her, but I couldn't hear any of what she was saying, but it's ok." She hops off the bed. "I'm going to go back and play with Willie until Mama comes back. We can ask her to tell us about her powers later." She leaves the cell, Aria watched her leave, but not before seeing a tuft of white blonde hait trailing behind her.

Jesus, this was insane.

She was going crazy.

She sighs and walks over to the window again, leaning against it. The sun was slowly going down, and her mother would be home soon. She still couldn't believe that this was happening to her. This was just berserk.

Looking down at her hand, she remembers Elsa's advice. _Let it go._

She raises her hand up, and tiny snow particles fly around her, and then a snowflake forms above her hand, floating alone her palm. She smiles, laughing a little. This was truly amazing. Maybe that's why she wasn't affected by the weather.

* * *

Anna walks into her cell later that night, having dropped off the meds to Hershel, who had been in the sick zone the whole entire day. She was shocked at first, but understood his good intentions. He really was the moral of the group.

He was such a fatherly figure, and her daughters loved him very much. She only wished her father was just as nice as him, but her life was screwed up. She didn't have a perfect life like some people had, but she was content with it. If she didn't have a perfect life, she probably wouldn't have Aria, or Daryl.

Or her powers.

God almighty, her powers.

She** definitely** wouldn't have her powers if she had a perfect life.

She shook her head. Not the time to think about that.

She lands down on her bed and sighs. Finally back in the prison. God this felt good. She had actually found a home at the prison and come to love the group as her family. Sure, she would love to actually have a house and settle down a little, but this was a close second when it comes to that.

Grabbing her book, she looks through the countless journal entries she had put it during high school and her senior year. All the words and memories were in this one book. And it was officialy out of pages. She needed a new book.

She had never really wanted to be a writer, but when she wrote in her notebook or on her laptop, she felt alive. She felt like she could do something other than screw up. That was a side job that she used to do. Used to write all these sorts of reviews and short stories. She missed that.

One of the many things she missed.

"You ok, Anna?" she hears. She looks up and see Joey there standing against the doorway looking slightly worried. She chuckles.

"Yeah, I'm good, Joey. Just remembering school." He nods and sits on the bed next to her.

"I remember you brining this to English. You would write in this all the time," he says, taking the book from her. "It's finally out of pages?" She nods.

"Yup, finally out of pages. Need a new one to start new memories." He chuckles and puts it back on the bed.

"So, I've been here for the past five months and you haven't told me if you and Daryl were officially like married or not." She laughs and shakes her head, holding her stomach.

"Why are you always so interested in my love life?" she chuckles, rolling her eyes.

"Because I'm your gay best friend and I need to know." She snickers. She loved how he wore who he was on his sleeve. He was proud of it and wasn't afraid to show it.

"Yes, we are," she confirms. He fist pumped the air and she laughs again.

"Yes! I win two more showers for the week!" She gasps and slap his shoulder.

"You were betting on me and Daryl?" He laughs, and she slaps the back of his head, rolling her eye yet again. "You're unbelievable."

"Well, it was BOUND to happen. I mean, you've already had a kid with him-" She places her hand over his mouth and shoves him out the door.

"Joey, leave," she chuckles, going over to her desk.

"How many time have you had-"

"JOEY!" she yells, throwing a piece of paper at him playfully. He snickers and backs up with his hands up near the staircase.

"Jeez, just joking…not really." She growls, walking to the doorway and starts to say something when she sees Daryl coming to the cell. He glances between Joey and Anna, an amused look on his face.

"What the hell did I miss this time?" he chuckles. Anna groans and goes back inside her cell, while Joey just snickers.

"Ask her," he says, going down the stairs to the rest of the group getting ready for bed. Daryl walks into the cell and see Anna sitting at the desk.

"What's up with him?" he asks, setting his crossbow next to the bed. She shakes her head, chuckling at the same time.

"Just plain Joey stuff. Are the fences secure now?" she asks. When they came back, the fences were being attacked by a shit ton of walkers, and Anna was told to go inside to prevent from anything bad happening. He nods.

"Better now," he replies, laying down on the bed. "Aren't ya tired?" he says. She nods but continues to write on her last page. "Why are ya still writing in that thing?" he snickers. "That's years old." She rolls her eyes and closes the book.

"Because it was the very last page. I needed to finish what I was writing." She gets up and goes over to the bed, taking off her jacket. "I personally think that one day I'll get the chance to publish all of the stuff I write. I'm pretty good, if I do say so myself," she says a little cockily. He scoffs and shakes his head.

"Just get in here, woman," he says. She laughs and is about to head in when she hears a knock on the wall inside. She turns to the intruder and sees two people, Aria and Scarlett. She raises an eyebrow.

"Why are-" Aria interrupts her with a wave of her hand, and ice particles freeze a portion of the ceiling. Anna's eyes widened as did Daryl's.

"We need to talk," she says, and Scarlett nods.

"I think it's a good time to have that chat, Anna," Daryl says. Anna glares at him.

"No shit, Sherlock," she mumbles under her breath.

* * *

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" Aria whispered fiercely. "I could have-"

"The only reason why I haven't told you was because I wanted you to live a normal childhood, not be this person who had these powers. You didn't even show signs of having any up until now. That's also why." She looks to her youngest daughter. "Can you do anything sweetie?"

"I can see dead people." Anna's eyes widen and she looks at Aria for confirmation. She rolls her eyes and look at the girl.

"She can talk to the dead. She can also control the earth. Now, I know our family is weird, but I never thought it would be like that. Why do we have these powers mom?" Anna sighs and sits down on the windowsill.

"This'll be a while," she mumbles. She flicks her finger to a candle and fire pops onto it. Scarlett's face set a broad grin.

"Cool," she says. Anna smiles a bit.

"You want to know? Here goes nothing."

_**August 10**__**th**__**,1996.**_

"_Oh my God, this move sucks," Anna chuckles at the TV. Daryl sits down next to her, a bowl of popcorn in his hands. "It looks like it was all based off of toys!"_

"_You're the one who wanted to watch it," he replies, grabbing a handful of popcorn and putting it in his mouth. She groans._

"_But I didn't think it would be this bad! It's REALLY bad. God almighty," she says, but also takes some of her own popcorn and pops it into her mouth, enjoying the salty , buttery taste it emitted. "The only reason why I'm watching this is because Jim Carrey's in it." He rolls his eyes._

"_That man ain't funny." She scoffs._

"_Yes he is, you just don't find his sense of humor hilarious like I do. Your kind of humor is watching people get beat up over money." He raises his hands in defense._

"_Is there something wrong with tha'?" he chuckles. The phone rings and she gets up, rolling her eyes and walking over to the cordless ._

"_You're a sick person if you like that kind of stuff. Then again, you're you," she mumbles, picking it up. "Hello?" she asks into the speaker. She hears laughter on the other side, followed by music in the background. Anna sighs. "Gilly, I told you I'm not coming to the party."_

"_Oh come on! We have a wigi board here! We're trying to talk to my friends dead grandma! It'll be awesome!" Anna's eyes widen in concern and she shakes her head, looking down._

"_I'm not becoming a part of a demon summoning circle. Those boards are nothing but trouble and you know it. I don't know how you could be so stupid as to let someone bring that. Do you know what has happened to people who mess around with that shit? Bad, __**bad, **__stuff, Gilly." _

"_You're no fun. All you do is spend your day with Aria and that Daryl. Is he like you're boyfriend or something?" Anna growls inwardly and her eyes narrow. _

"_No, he is not. He is my friend. Nothing more. And excuse me if I have a one year old to take care of. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and eat my heart out while watching a terrible movie." She hangs up the phone without another word to the girl on the other end. She was always getting into trouble._

_She walks back to the couch and sits down. "Who was tha'?" Daryl asks through a mouthful of popcorn. She chuckles and closes his mouth._

"_Impolite, Daryl." He glares playfully at her and swallows the popcorn._

"_Who was it, mother?" he teases. She smiles and looks back to the TV._

"_Gilly. Says she has some wigi board. Not heading over there anytime soon." His eyebrows raise._

"_Wigi board? Isn't that for like spirits and demons and crap?" She nods._

"_Exactly why I ain't going over there. That shit scares the hell out of me. I'll talk to her tomorrow, probably head to her house and baptize it or something. Demons. God, please just don't be a demon." _

"Wait, so Gilly actually got a hold of one of those? I thought they were like illegal or something?" Aria asks her mother. She shakes her head.

"I don't think they are. One of her friends had brought it, so they used it and crap went down. The next day…oh, the next day will stay in my mind forever."

_Anna rode her bike down the streets to Gilly's house. It was a bright Saturday morning and she knew Gilly would be awake. Daryl had left earlier, saying he needed to head out and fix up something with his truck. But she didn't mind. She needed to get to her house._

_She wishes she could just drive, but she had her permit. Couldn't go anywhere without a legal adult in the car. In a few months she would get her license, but for now she was just a bicycler, riding around, trying to get to places as soon as possible. She needed to grow up fast. _

_She rides up to the two story house and frowns. The cars were still there. Her parents usually worked on Saturdays in Atlanta. Maybe they had taken the day off._

_She stakes off her helmet and steps up onto the porch, looking around for any signs of life. She had seen none accept a little light flicker on the windowsill. This wasn't strange at all._

_She tries to push open the door but it wouldn't budge. It was firmly stuck between something. She pushes harder, trying to find some way in, but whatever was blocking It was nice and heavy. She would really have to have muscles to get through that._

_Where was Daryl when she needed him?_

_She growls slightly, looking for another way. Then, using her amazingly thin body, she slipped throught the small gap, still a tight fit, but got right in. When she saw the inside of the house finally come into view, she smiles and starts to talk, but trips on something and falls onto the ground, face first._

_She groans and rubs her head, trying to give rid of the aching pain in her forehead now. Her eyes travel around her and they widen. The house was a complete and utter mess. The table was upside down, the chairs were strewn all over the place. The kitchen was basically a pigsty. Everything turned upside down._

_Her eyes move to what was blocking her, and she let out a scream of terror when she saw what she saw._

_It was Gilly's parents, friends, and sister, all cut up in little pieces and in a pile. All there eyes were open, and blood was everywhere. On the floor, the walls, the stairs, and now it was on her. _

_She backs up against one of the walls and stands up, her legs very shaky. She felt like she could fall at any moment. This was not happening. This was her fucked up imagination. This would all go back to normal as soon as she opened her eyes. _

_She turns her head to the right and screams louder. There was a message on the wall, one that was not there before. _

_**You're. Next.**_

_She fearfully turns around and starts to leave but finds Gilly in front of her, scaring the living shit out of her and sending her to the ground again, backing up slowly to the kitchen. _

_This was not Gilly. Gilly had blonde hair and the most sparkling green eyes she had ever seen on anyone. But this…thing had black eyes, all black. Her hair was covered in blood, and in her hands were fireballs. Aiming at her. And a knife in the other._

"_Why, hello there, Anna," she hisses. No. It hisses. This was not Gilly. This was something inside her. Gilly was long gone. Fucken wigi board had brought in a demon._

"_I don't want any trou-" The demon hurls a fireball at her and she jumps out of the way, soon enough to run into the kitchen and grab a knife. She had read somewhere that the only way to give rid of a demon that had completely taken over a body was the give rid of the body. Kill it. It would kill the demon as well._

_The house was now on fire, spreading all over. The demon hurled fireball after her, one by one, trying to hit her, but Anna would move each and every time, her survival skills kicking in. She would not die to this. She was strong._

_She stands near the back door, fire now surrounding her. The knife was hidden behind her back. She needed to make up a plan. Quick._

_The demon slumped towards her, now all her hair burned off. "Where you going now, Anna? All twrapped and nowhere to go?" she mocks, and then sends another fireball her way. But quickly, Anna dives under the demons legs, gets up, turns around, and slams the knife into its head._

_It lets out a squeal and it just goes limp. Everything is quiet for a second. Just the fire burning. And then Anna is sent back with such force that she goes through the glass of the back door and lands on the grass, her back hitting some sort of stone._

_Stars cloud her vision, but she is able to limp and look around. The demon was now gone. She had killed a demon. So was Gilly._

_Stupid, stupid girl._

_She looks down at her body and notices that there were no burns whatsoever on her skin. She was completely unharmed. Not a single scratch. Even from flying through the glass. How…?_

_She doesn't question it. All she had to do was get home before the cops came. And she knew they would sooner rather than later._

"So…you got your powers from killing a demon?" Aria asks. Anna nods. "That's actually pretty cool."

"The demon was Behgnul, and he was able to destroy anything with the elements. When I got rid of him, his powers were passed onto me, and I could decided whether to use them for good or for evil. Obviously I chose good. But it was just a shock. I didn't think it would be passed down to my kids though, let alone both of them having different powers then me,"

"Ice," Aria whispers, and a small smiles pops on her face, creating a snowflake above her hand like she had done earlier. Anna smiles. "But why wouldn't you tell us? We would have gotten used to it." Anna places Scarlett in her arms, who was falling asleep. It was past her bedtime.

"Honestly, I just wanted you to live normally. I've had a pretty rough life, and I didn't want you to go through what I went through, so keeping that a secret was one of the best things I think I ever did. But now…I will say this. These powers…they're rare. They will help us survive. But we have to use them wisely. Don't screw it up, Aria." She nods.

"Yes, ma'am," she says, rubbing her hands. Anna smiles small.

"Tired? Get to bed, we'll talk more about this in the morning." She nods but not before turning around and asking one more question.

"Does dad know?" That was the first time she had heard her call Daryl dad. She smiles wider.

"Yes, he does. I've known him for twenty years. But like I said, we'll talk in the morning." She nods, and this time finally goes to her cell to sleep. Anna smiles down at the little girl slowly falling asleep.

"Lily misses you too," she whispers up to her mother.

"She does?" Anna replies.

"Yeah, and she says it's about time you and daddy sealed the deal." Anna laughs brightly, but quietly. Even in death, Lily was always there to sass her. Scarlett was her savior. She could now talk to Lily.

God, her life was crazy.

**So there's another chapter done! Sorry if you don't like the powers storyline, but its not just that. I'm fitting them into the original storyline, but not as much as in this chapter. I just needed a filler because I wasn't going to write on the governor. I just can't stand that asshole. But I will say the next chapter will be taking place in episode eight, and I am looking forward to it. Less powers, more action. But I did enjoy writing that demon scene. I love horror movies. XD Hope you like it. REVIEW!**


	19. Run

**It's snowing AGAIN where I live. I think Aria is mad or something XD But Jesus this week I have midterms and I am scared but I know I'll do well. And Jesus do I have a surprise for next chapter. This chapter is mainly focusing on the Governor and the prison and all that, but next chapter…Jesus, it'll be fun to write. I may not get to write tomorrow, but I will sure as hell get it up as soon as possible. I am looking forward to writing the next few chapters. And also exploring Aria and Scarlett a bit more, like their relationship as sisters but…oh this will be fun. On with the story!**

* * *

Aria woke up the next morning to the bright light shining in her cell. Scarlett had her own cell now, as did Aria, but even she knew that her sister was never up at this time in the morning. She always slept in when she could.

She gets out of her bed and walks out of her cell, glancing around for anyone else alive at this hour, bot noticed no one around her area. She looks in her mirror and examines her PJ's that she was wearing. She had some flannel pants and a loose t-shirt that was barely fitting her. Shaking her head, she takes off her shirt and puts on a new one, now a little more tight fitting. She didn't want people seeing her body hanging out.

Stepping out of her cell, she walks up the stairs that led outside to one of the few bridges that led to different buildings in the prison. When she reaches the top, she opens the door and steps outside. Cold air hits her face. She could tell it was around six in the morning. The sun just came up. It was always cold in the morning.

She walks to the gated fence around the bridge and sticks her fingers to it. Some of them go through the holes, some of them stay put. She glances out to the forest where they had come from five months ago. She had no idea why, but she had a feeling that they would be returning to it sooner or later. Something bad was going to happen. Maybe one of her visions were coming true.

Most of them had already.

The one vision she didn't want to come true was coming true, and that vision was losing the prison. IT was bound to happen.

Her mind wanders back to elementary school and her life before this. She would have been a sophomore now…no, a junior in high school. In fact, according to her mind while keeping track of time, her birthday was today.

She was sixteen.

And in an apocalypse.

Some sixteenth birthday this was. The dead coming back to life and trying to eat her, and hiding out in a prison to try and stay alive. She thought traveling alone on the streets of the Bronx was dangerous, but now, that was a fantasy compared to today.

Her eyes travel to the walkers trying to get in through the fence. She could easily point her hands at them and they would freeze, but now was not the time to let her powers fly. It was too early, and they would get out of hand. She felt too emotionally unstable.

She was 16, her friends were dead, and she was killing people.

Then again, they were already dead. But it just didn't feel right.

Before the prison she never thought she could survive this. She was a dancer, a singer, a painter, a lover, and not to mention one of the most peaceful person someone could ever meet. But now, she was a killer, hard, stone cold when it came to new people. She wasn't afraid anymore. And now that she knew she had these weird abilities, oh…she wasn't afraid.

But she still missed everything. She missed riding her back to school with Billy. She missed picking up a dirty water dog on the way home. She missed trying to teach Scarlett how to do ballet. She missed climbing on the rocks, and sneaking in to go see Broadway plays, and going to the movies with her friends. She missed going to the top of the ESB and doing stupid shit.

She missed New York City.

She loved the south. She really did. But there was something about the city that always appealed to her. Whether it was the fast paced life or all the things you could do, she just never had a reason to leave. She was a proud New Yorker. And she missed that.

But she knew if she did go back, nothing would be the same. She didn't know if the city was even still there. The ESB could be in ruins, it could be flooded, there could be no life in the city at all. The singing would stop, the partying would stop, the fun would stop. Everything would just be gone. Including her past life.

She sighs heavily and looks down, knowing that tears were coming out of her eyes. Not a lot, but enough to cause her to wipe them away quickly.

She feels a hand on her shoulder and she turns her head but finds no one there. It wasn't a hand, it was just pressure. There was something there, she just couldn't see it like her sister could. It was a spirit.

But something about the pressure reminded her or something. And that's when she knew it was Billy doing that. He was behind her, and trying to comfort her in any way possible, even if he couldn't physically put his arms around her and tell her everything would be alright.

She smiles and looks back down. He would be there. Even if he wasn't.

"Why are you up so early?" someone says from the doorway. Her head turns to the entrance and the pressure on her shoulder disappears. Billy had left, but she knew it wasn't for long. Carl was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. She looks back out at the scenery.

"Woke up too early. And when I wake up, I can't get back to sleep." He nods and comes over to her, looking at the scenery as well.

"You've been crying," he says. Her eyes widen at his statement. How the hell did her know? "You're eyes are red and puffy. Why?" She sighs and looks back out again, gripping the fence a bit harder.

"Today…was supposed to be my sixteenth birthday," she replies. 'Not a whole lie' she thinks, shrugging her shoulders. "I was supposed to be having a party and all that. I was supposed to be laughing and having a fun time…but now look. Walkers all around us. Some birthday this is."

"You can't control what happened," he talks back. She sighs and nods.

"I know that, I just wish I wasn't this…bad. I pictured everything that happened, and now it's just down the drain. I mean, in this world, I am stronger, more tough, but there's still this part of me that wants to rewind time and just enjoy those little moments in life that made it special. Coming home from school each day, singing to Scarlett, waking up to the sounds of the city. I miss it."

"You really do like the city, huh?" he asks, leaning against the fence. She smiles.

"Yeah, I do. I mean, the south is pretty, but I miss the skyscrapers and the loudness, and the music. God the music. You could not go anywhere in NYC without hearing music on every corner." He raises an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yes! Whether it was coming from a shop, a restaurant, or just a random guy playing the saxophone in the subways, there was music everywhere you went. You could never escape it. And I miss that feeling of walking around the corner and hearing the sweet sound of someone singing or playing the blues or jazz. Jesus jazz, I miss it so much."

"Sometimes I wonder if there really will be an end to this. And even though this sounds slightly stupid, just gotta keep hoping it will." She looks to him and nods slowly.

"I know that…just, I wish something good would happen. Something, anything! I'm tired of people dropping dead all around me, I'm tired of life being a constant threat! I'm tired of this threat that's inside the prison that killed Karen and David! And most of all, I am tired of my life being 'ZombieLand' or 'Dawn of the Dead.' Just endless, horror." She looks back down. "I need to face reality. Life's never going to be the same."

"You've said this before," Carl states. "But life will get better, it will get easier." She raises an eyebrow.

"And how do you know that?" she laughs bitterly. "No one can guarantee if we have a life even tomorrow." He shrugs.

"Someone very smart and pretty told me a few months ago. Guess it kind of stuck." She rolls her eyes and looks at the boy next to her, who had a small smirk on his face as well.

"Yes, she was very smart and pretty. Still is," she teases. She looks closer at him. "You really need a haircut…like badly," she chuckles.

"No one's got time for that," he replies. She rolls her eyes.

"You mean you can't take out a knife and chop off some of that hair for a split second? Are you really that lazy?" He nods.

"Yup," he replies. She chuckles and looks back out. "Happy Birthday," he says. She smiles.

"Thanks, Carl."

* * *

Anna looks outside where Karen and David were dragged days prior. For some reason, she had a very good clue as to who did this. She had seen plenty of signs that this person was the person to do exactly this.

It was Carol.

She had snuck back inside the prison and was hiding somewhere. She heard about the virus and purposely killed the two people. She was somewhere with a vengeance, and Anna had a feeling that she was bound to come after her next. But there was one thing that confused Anna.

She wasn't scared at all.

For the first time in a very long time, she wasn't scared.

Then again, who is of Carol. She may act all tough and cool like, but in reality, she's all talk and no play. Anna, on the other hand, meant what she said, and would take action when needed. She never let people take her down, not after high school.

It was now probably nine in the morning. She had seen Aria who was speaking with Carl earlier at the tables in the yard. Aria had smiled at her mother and said good morning, while Anna said 'Happy Birthday' to her while handing her something that her daughter had been wanting since this whole thing started.

A journal. Just like her mothers.

She was astonished her mother had even remembered her birthday let alone got her a gift. She had been very thankful.

Her daughter was sixteen now. It was amazing how fast time flew by.

According to her mind, she would be turning 31 in a month, Scarlett seven in a few weeks, and Daryl 36 in two months. She still kept up with all the dates, even if there were no calendars. Her and her screwed up mind.

"Aria's birthday, huh?" She turns around and finds Daryl near the doorway. She chuckles, nodding her head.

"She's sixteen, Daryl. Jesus. I still can't believe it. Can you?" she laughs, getting up from the ground. He actually shakes his head.

"Nah," he replies. "She's still the little girl who used to stick paint in her mouth and all over her face to me." Anna laughs, knowing he was right. Aria was always around paint when she was younger, and when she finger painted, all hell would break lose. Then again, that had been how she discovered art. She loved that her daughter had a passion, just like her mother.

"Yes, I remember that clearly. She still makes a mess when she paints," she says, going up to him and pecking his lips. He smirks and pulls back, looking at the outline of the bodies that had once been thre burning.

"Do ya have any idea who did this, yet?" he replied. She nods, but looks away for a minute.

"You're gonna think I'm crazy, but I think it might be Carol." He raises an eyebrow.

"Carol?" he replies. She nods.

"Carol. As in Carol-who-tried-to-kill-me Carol. I think she's snuck back into the prison and killed these two. I swear I saw her the other night in the depths of this place, and the blood mark on the wall?" she says, pointing to the wall that had a bloody hand print on it. "That's exactly her size."

"How do ya know?"

"Because it's the exact same hand that tried to choke me that night. I know the size." She crosses her arms over her body, sighing. "I think she might be working for the Governor. I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling she's leading him here and another full out war is going to happen. I am so afraid that something bad might happen out of this."

"Well. Whatever it is, we'll survive this together, all of us." She looks up and chuckles.

"All the Dixon's together, huh? We're indestructible," she laughs, uncrossing her arms. Suddenly, something rocks the prison, the ground shaking below Anna's feet. She looks up worried at Daryl and he grabs her hand.

"Come on," he says, pulling her to the front of the prison. 'Jesus, this is exactly what I feared,' she thinks quickly, running through. When she gets to the front, she see's Aria and Scarlett together, holding hands and looking scared at what they were seeing.

There was a tank, and one of the guard towers were on fire. A man stood on the tank, one of his eyes having an eyepatch over it. He drags out too people. Michonne and Hershel. This was the Governor.

She had heard about him from everyone, but she never thought he would come back with a mother fucking TANK! Who the hell is this dude? He's crazy as fuck. They had children there who were innocent.

Anna joins the group near the fence, Aria and Scarlett behind her. Aria is right next to her mother and grabs her hand as well. Anna looks down and smiles reassuringly at the young girl. Fire and Ice. Two complete opposites, but in this time, will combine to save these people if something bad was to happen.

Anna feels something next to her and notices Daryl handing her a rifle. She nods and takes it, walking over to the fence where Carl was.

"I should just shoot him. It would be spot on," Carl says. Anna shakes her head and positions her gun as well, Daryl coming over with her.

"We don't want to be the one to start this," she says, looking through the eyehole at Hershel and Michonne. 'God please,' she prays slightly.

"Let your father talk it out, he's the reasonable one," Daryl replies, aiming his gun. Anna nods, but kept staring at the two through the hole. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew it was nothing but trouble. Her facial expression gave her away. Nothing but worry.

But that's when she saw it. The grey hair, the worn down clothes, the rifle in her hand as well, pointed at HER. Carol.

"Daryl," Anna whispers. He looks at her for a split second while she gestures over to where Carol was standing. He looks and steps back a bit, a scowl on his face.

"No shit," he growls, aiming his gun more now. Both of them were aimed at the governor, but Anna always had hers also slightly pointed at Carol, just in case she tried to do something.

The man holding Michonne takes out her sword and puts it to Hershels neck. Anna inhales a sharp breath. "No. no. no," she whispers. This was not happening. This couldn't be happening. They had been safe. Safe for five months. She had found him again, she had had thte most fun she had had in this worl for the past year. She had been safe. Her family was safe.

Now, they were completely and utterly screwed if Rick didn't find a way out of this.

She sees the sword lower slightly, and Anna starts to think the worse isn't gonna happen. Maybe they would be ok. Maybe they would leave in peace.

Blood. That's all Anna saw when the man pierces the sword into Hershels neck almost as soon as he put it down. Anna steps back, her hands covering her mouth for a split second. She hears Maggie and Beth scream, and she understood their pain very perfectly.

No.

No.

She grabs the gun and starts to fire at the men, not caring who she hit. She needed to let all this out. She needed to kill these people. These horrible, horrible people. She aims it where Carol was.

But she wasn't there.

"Where the fuck did she go?" she whispers fiercly. She runs back to the prison to defend any part of it. She sees Aria running with Scarlett and she quickly looks to her.

"Mama-" Aria whimpers. This broke her heart. Her daughter being in so much shock and pain. "They-"

"I know sweetie. But you gotta stay strong. Keep Scarlett by your side and protect her. Use your gun. Hell, use your powers if it comes down to it. Just keep yourself alive and get out of here. This place isn't safe anymore."

"What about you and Daryl?" she cries, holding onto Scarlett. Anna shakes her head.

"Don't worry about us. Just get the hell out of here. I'll find you, don't worry." Aria starts again but Anna pushes her in the opposite direction with Scarlett. "Go!" With no other words, the two girls run off, leaving Anna alone. She looks to the prison and runs deeper, knowing there were people there.

The tank had now destroyed the gates and was firing away. She silently prayed to God that whoever was in there would be killed instantly. Why couldn't someone blow it up?

She sees two people heading for Tyreese but are shot down by Lizzie and Mike. Anna runs to them. "Anna?" they both ask. Tyreese gets out from the bushes and walks over to her.

"Get these girls out as soon as possible. Don't look back for anything."

"An-"

"Just do it, Ty!" she says, running to see if anyone else was hurt. She see Bob is shot but also finds that Maggie and some others are helping him. She suddenly sees a bullet whiz past her and she ducks under one of the tables. Peeking out to whoever was shooting at her.

It looked just like Jack. But she knew it wasn't him. Jack had brown devilish eyes, while this man had blue. He had dark brown hair and a rifle in his hands, trying to shoot at anything he could see that was moving, but she quickly finished that dream up, shooting him from underneath the table in his chest, effectively ending his life then and there.

She gets out of the table and runs further, shooting at any person she didn't recognize, killing all of them. She needed to find Daryl.

She is suddenly grabbed from behind and she spins around, nailing her knife into whatever was there. It was a walker. They had gotten in.

She groans and sees more walkers coming her way. She runs in the opposite direction and tries to get away as quick as possible. She was not going to die. Not today.

She runs to where the tank is and hides, but not before noticing that Daryl was there too. He runs up to the tank and throws a grenade into the shooter, and it explodes a moment later, the man coming out who was shooting at everyone. Anna smiles.

"Yeah, baby," she whispers, stepping out. Daryl had his crossbow pointed at the man and shoots him in the chest, killing him instantly. She runs up to him but he puts out his hands to stop her from going any further into the dead body that was on the ground. "I saw that. That was smart. Where is Rick and Carl?" she says, looking around.

"I have no clue. Where's Scar and Aria?" He asks. She looks around for a moment.

"They're gone. They left the prison. They're safe. I told them we would find them eventually. Aria had her knife and her gun. She's gonna be ok, and so will Scarlett." She looks up at the prison on fire, and her hand goes to her mouth. "Jesus Christ," she mumbles against it, tears starting to come to, but she shakes her head.

"We gotta go, Anna," Daryl says, looking at the thousands of walkers ready to come into the prison to eat any of the dead bodies. She nods shakily.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," she whispers, running in the opposite direction, Daryl right behind her.

* * *

She didn't know how long the two of them had been running. All Aria knew was that her legs burned, and that she felt like she would collapse soon if they didn't get away. But no, she had to keep going. She had to keep Scarlett safe. There would be no end to this, and she had to keep her family ok.

Her hand is still attached firmly to Scarletts who looked about ready to pass out. The prison was now out of sight, gone from their vision. She couldn't see the smoke anymore, but she could still barely smell it. They were now probably three miles from the prison. They had been running for that long.

They were safe for a moment.

"We can stop," Aria says, collapsing on the ground. Scarlett groans and sits down on the grass, her hands going to her head. Aria goes next to her and takes her sisters head in her hands. She had been cut and she was bleeding a little. "Let me fix that."

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a bandage and some portable rubbing alcohol she had found one day on a run. She wipes down the cut, making Scarlett cringe. "Sorry, kid," she says, wiping it down a little more. She reaches for the bandage and wraps it around the part of her head, just a little. Not too tight. It was just a little one, but it would have to do for now.

"Ari, you're hurt," she says, pointing to her leg. Aria looks at her pants and her eyes widen slightly, but she wasn't surprised. In fact, she was already expecting this would have happened. She was shot. It wasn't in her, just grazed her leg. But she was shot. And that's why her leg had hurt.

"Oh, would you look at that?" she chuckles. She places her hand on the gash and coldness spreads throughout her leg, stopping the pain so she could somehow wrap something around it, but Scarlett puts her hand out, stopping her. "What?"

"I can fix it," she says, crawling to her leg. Aria chuckles as the little girl places her two little hands on the gash and starts to hum something. As soon as she was done, the gash didn't hurt as much. Aria raises an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

"Mommy left a book open one day that said 'healing incantation,' so I read it and learned it. I'm good, right?" she asks. Aria nods, impressed that this little girl could do more than what she looked like. She was insanely gifted. She wondered if she could do that somehow.

"That's pretty cool, but you still need to wrap the bandage so it won't get infected, ok?" She nods and wraps the rest of the bandage around the upper part of her leg. Aria moves it and nods. "It's good." She leans against a rock and sighs. "What a day, am I right?" Aria says to her sister. She nods.

"What a day." She lays down on the grass and looks up at the sky, observing the little pictures that the clouds made. They looked like eggs, and pigs, and chickens. One looked like a baby. "Elsa?" she whispers. A cold wind blows over Scarlett's face and she smiles. She was there.

"Elsa here?" Aria asks, feeling the cold wind as well.

"Yeah, right here," she says. "Are mommy and daddy going to come and find us?" she says quietly enough for only Aria to hear. Aria looks down at the grass. Her mother did say they would find them somehow, but how much of that statement was true? They were miles away now, and probably going to be more soon enough. But she had to keep hope alive. This was her little sister she was talking to.

"I think we'll find them somehow. Somewhere. Maybe not immediately, but we will find them. We will be ok. But right now, we have to survive and make Mama proud ok? Come back to her with not a single scratch on us. So that means you can't back out. We need to stay strong and keep on going. We only have each other, and I know it may seem bad, but we will survive, do you hear me?" Scarlett nods.

"We'll be ok," she repeats. Aria nods, getting up.

"Good. Now, since we are going to be here for a while, we need to find shelter and find something to eat. Maybe find some of the group. Come on, I know it hurts, but we gotta keep going." Scarlett nods and gets up, but not before wrapping her arms around Aria in a hug, to which her sister returned.

"Is the man gone? The one who killed Hershy?" She smiles sadly at the nickname. God, her six year old sister had seen a man get nearly decapitated. She was probably scared for life, though right now she didn't show it.

"He's not coming for us," she replies, pulling back to look at Scarlett. "Now come on, we got family to find."

**So there's this chapter! The prison is now officially gone, and the group is scattered. What a great birthday gift, right? XD so now I'm going into the territory that hasn't been really crossed yet in the walking dead. And when the show comes back on, I'll try to incorporate the storyline into my story, but it'll be hard because I'll probably be much farther in. XD So I'll try. But now we had some storyline going on here. Anna and Daryl are separated from the kids, Aria is a strong little sixteen year old and determined to keep her sister alive, and Carol is back with a gun. I can't wait to write the next chapters in this story. I have all these ideas in my head! *excited squeal* hope you enjoyed! REVIEW!**


	20. No Clue

**I'm surprised at how fast people reviewed yesterday XD I put it up at like 7:15 and I got three reviews within an hour! Thank you to the people that did and thanks to the people reading this story! It really means a lot that people are liking it and that I'm not totally sucking. I've been busy all day with midterms and a show mu church is doing, so I haven't had time to write. But now I am taking out probably two hours of my day to write this next chapter for all of you. I can't wait to continue this! On with the story!**

* * *

"Daryl, do you know if the Governor is dead or not?" Anna says worriedly as the two hike along the woods. They were far enough from the prison now to slow down. But the fact that Anna hadn't found Aria and Scarlett yet disturbed her, and she was surprised after everything she just saw she hadn't gone into shock.

"I didn't see if anyone got to him, but I have a feeling Michonne did. Too many damn people to see shit," he replied. Anna nods shakily, thinking back to how Michonne used to go out everyday and look for the Governor so she could kill him. She had told her what they did to her friend, Andrea, and Ann would be pretty pissed off too if that's what happened to Lily or Joey.

Then again, Lily was dead, and she had no clue where the hell Joey was. He could be dead too for all she knew, his son as well. They could be walkers, or something worse.

Tear prickled in her eyes but she blinked them away. No, she had to stay strong. She wasn't going to let any of this shit bring her down. She would be ok and so would her family.

She could still smell the smoke from the prison.

"We need to get further, I can still smell it," Anna grimaces, walking a little faster. "I can't stand this," she grumbles. "I can't fucken believe this."

"Wait, Anna," Daryl says catching up to her. He stops her in her tracks by grabbing her arm, and for the first time in a while, she actually sends him a death glare, her brown eyes narrowed.

"Don't you see we need to get out of here?" she hisses. He points down at her leg and she follows, and her glare disappears into an embarrassed expression. "Oops," she says quietly. Her leg had been hurt, and was bleeding. She hadn't even know until now.

"Yeah, 'oops,'" Daryl mocks. He grabs her hand and leads her over to somewhere where they could sit. "We need to get that fixed up," he murmurs. She nods and goes to her pocket, taking out a bandana and handing it to him.

"Until we find some good medical supplies. Just tie it tight and I think we'll be fine." He nods, and takes it from her hands, then rolls up the jeans and looks at the damage. "Jesus, was I shot?" Anna says, surprised at the cut. It was deep, but it had stopped bleeding. She was very surprised she hadn't felt any pain until now. They had been running for who the hell knows how many miles.

"I don't think this is a shot. Someone probably threw something at ya and it hit your leg." He starts to wipe it down, and Anna sighs, looking off into the forest, like she was expecting something to come out of the trees. Why did she have a feeling that something was going to happen. "Ya seem deep in thought," Daryl says, looking up from the wound and at her. She looks at him.

"I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. I don't know what it is, but something. Someone's gonna come through the trees and nuke our asses or something," she says bitterly at the end. "I just can't feel safe anymore. I don't even know if all of the Governors' people are dead! They could all be searching for us ro something!" He shakes his head.

"Got nothing left to get. The prison is gone. It's not gonna be ok to live in anymore, so I don't think anyone's gonna hunt for us." Anna nods and looks down.

"But what about Carol? You saw her, I saw her. I don't know if she's dead or not. She could be after us. Oh Jesus she could be after the kids!" she suddenly yells trying to get up, but Daryl keeps her down, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Daryl-"

"The kids will be ok," he assures her, trying to find some way to calm her down. She locks eyes with him. "Aria is great with her knives, and Scarlett has learned a lot about how to use the pistol. They'll be fine." She still looks nervous. "Anna, they had fucken powers. Aria can control ice. They will be fine," he grumbles, making Anna chuckle slightly before regaining her composure.

"We have to find them," she says seriously. He nods.

"I know, but we can't today." She narrows her eyes.

"And why the hell not?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest. He finish's tying up her bandana around her leg, nice and tight, and she cringes slightly. He looks up and smirks.

"There's the reason." She glares at him but looks down, her cheeks turning a slight shade of red. He did have a point. She would eventually just collapse from the pain now that she knew it was there.

"I can still walk," she persisted, but also slightly mumbles. He rolls his eyes and moves next to her.

"Ya don't have to worry so much. They'll be fine. But you've already covered so much ground with that hurt ankle. Ya can't head out and start hunting for them again. Tomorrow it'll be better, and we can look for them again." She sighs and looks down at her ankle.

"Why did this happen?" she says, looking back to him. "Why did any of this happen? What made the Governor want to kill us in the first place? Was it all because Michonne took out his dead daughter?" He nods.

"That's basically one of the reasons." She shakes her head.

"That man is the craziest motherfucker I have ever seen in my thirty years of life. Even crazier then some of the hobos on the streets of the Bronx. And they are crazy." He chuckles slightly and she snickers. "I mean, the kid was dead. And she also told me that he kept heads in jars? What was he, Dr. Frankenstein? Was he doing to make a new person or something like that?" she laughs. "He was going to make a new daughter with all the body parts he had found. Oh, that thought creeps me out," she shivers, bringing her legs a little closer, though cringing slightly when she felt the pain down below in her leg.

"Really? Does it creep ya out more than this?" he says. She looks to the side and nearly has a heart attack, jumping at least two feet back from where she had been sitting. He was dangling a spider near her face. She glares at him.

"I hate you," she growls. He laughs and throws the spider in the opposite direction. She glares after it. "I knew you would do something like that to me one day," she grumbles, looking back down at the ground.

"It was just to make ya laugh, Anna," he says, coming over to her and offering a hand. She glares at it but accepts it anyway, being pulled up a moment later. She cringes and leans against him slightly. "You ok?" he asks concerned. She nods.

"Yeah, just the gash. I can walk," she says, taking a step. "Do you know if all the kids got out? Oh my God, what about Judith?" she asks. He sighs and shakes his head. Only then did she realize that he really needed a haircut. Maybe she could do it later.

"I have no clue," he says, looking around for a moment. "All I know is that I saw the bus leave. I think most of the survivors were on there." Anna slumps against a tree.

"Jesus," she repeats again, looking off into the distance. It was just plain forest in front of them, but thanks to her hearing, she could hear a river trickling down the way. That's when she remembered that there was indeed water nearby, and that near it there was a housing development not too far away. "We need shelter for the night."

"Ya see any houses around here?" he asks.

"I went out with Aria near the edge of the forest and there's a river at the end. Not too far is a housing development. We could stay there and head out, look for the kids and for the rest of the group. Hell, maybe some people are there right now." He nods.

"You lead the way," he says, gesturing to the forest in front of them. Suddenly something shot out from the bushes, both a knife and arrow sunk into its neck a second later. It was just a rabbit. "Looks like we got dinner," Daryl says, grinning slightly. She smiles too.

"Looks like it."

* * *

Knives swipe through the bushes to where Anna had seen the development. Once she saw the white house's come into view, she smiles. "We're here," she says to Daryl. He makes his way through the mess of vines and bushes they had to go through.

"About time," he mumbles lowly, but stops when he see the houses in front of him. It looks like they hadn't been touched what so ever. The houses weren't ransacked or destroyed. He would have thought it was completely secured except for the fact that there were walkers everywhere. "Ya didn't say anything about the thousands of walkers!" he whispers fiercely to her. She rolls her eyes.

"I think we'll be fine. Just run with me," she says, grabbing his hand and taking off. The two run through the streets, hiding behind cars and objects so none of the walkers would see them. When one would come close, an arrow or a knife would plunge into its head. Once they had made it to a house that was near the end of the street, they run inside and shut the door behind them. Anna looks around the house and sighs.

It was a nice little home. Something she had dreamed of having since she was a child. It seemed so peaceful and quiet.

But then she heard the click of the safety being turned off and there was a gun pointed at both her and Daryl.

She looks fearfully at the woman pointing a gun at them. "Why are you here?" she growls, but even Anna could see the sacredness on her face. "Get out!"

"Look, we found the ho-" She hears a baby cry from the back and her eyes widen. That was Judith. She took a closer look at the woman and she see's that it was a girl that was at the battle. And she had been on the Governors side. "You. You…were there! You were with him!" she screams, suddenly knocking the gun out of her hands. She tries to catch it but Anna clutches it in her hands now, her fingers tightening around the pistol. "I hear Judith. Where the fuck is she? Tell me or I'll shoot," she hisses. Daryl takes Anna's arm and leans down to her.

"Anna, this isn't going to help anything right now. I know you're made and I know that seeing all of that probably took its toll on ya. But threatening someone right now isn't going to help." Her hands are still grasped firmly around the gun, but she lowers it slightly. She would not succumb into this world where they had to shoot or be killed. But she wasn't about to let this woman stay in here.

"Get out of here before I make you," Anna glares at the young woman. Now, she was always nice when it came to stranger, but this one, she had Judith. She was with the opposite side. Her gun was still pointed. "Go on, get," she growls. The woman slowly walks over to the door fearfully and walks out, closing the door. Anna watches her get into an abandoned car and drive off from where the house was. She drops the gun and runs to where she heard the baby crying.

She walks into a room and finds a crib with a small baby inside. And sure as hell, it was Judith. Anna picks her up in her arms and rock her back and forth, trying to sooth the sounds of the baby's crying. Daryl looks at her surprised.

"How did ya know it was her? Could have been any baby." She shrugs.

"I guess mothers intuition? I've been spending just as much time with this baby as Beth has, and I guess I could tell what her cry sounded like." She looks down at the baby and coos to it, trying to get it to be quiet. "Shh, it's alright. No one's gonna hurt you. It's gonna be ok. Everything will be just fine."

* * *

Anna sits on the couch in the living room, Judith still in her arms. The baby was now asleep, and Anna had eaten dinner, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. She was going to be awake. Things were just starting to settle in her brain. All the adrenaline was gone.

She gets up and places Judith in the crib in the small room she was in and walks over to the large window. She stares outside at the walkers still wandering the streets. The large moon that was so bright. She looks back to Judith. God, what if Rick was dead? What if Rick AND Carl were dead?

Sinking down the ground, ignoring the piercing pain in her leg, she cries into her knees, letting all the pain and anguish out that she had needed to since she had ran from the prison. She had no clue if her daughters were ok, no clue if Joey was alive, no clue where the fuck the rest of the group was.

She had no clue if people were still out to get them. She had no clue if Carol was looking for them right now or might be hunting down her family.

She had absolutely, positively, no fucken clue.

Her mind travels back to when she saw Hershel's head get snapped off. She had nearly lost it. Hershel had been like a second father to her. The moral compass of the group. He was the healer, the talker. Oh, she couldn't imagine the pain that Maggie and Beth were feeling at the moment. He didn't deserve to die like this! Hell, he didn't deserve to die at all! He was the best thing that had happened to that group. She had been told that Hershel was the main thing that put Rick back in track when he had gone crazy. And now he was gone. Almost everyone she talked to was gone. They were all dead or missing. Her family.

She cries harder. Daryl finally hears and comes down to her level. "Anna? Anna can you hear me?" he says, grabbing her shoulders. She looks up, tears streaming down her face.

"Hershel," she cries. His eyes turn sad for a moment before taking her in his arms, letting her cry into his body. She had no clue what to do. She had kids to find, but right now, she also seemed to have a baby to take care of. She was hopeless.

Absolutely no clue.

* * *

Aria smiles as she finishes making a fire on the stove. The two had found and old abandoned house in the middle of the woods, and it seems like the electricity was working. The gas was as well, so Aria started up the stove and started to fry up some animals she had kills and skinned earlier.

"You have a fire?" Scarlett asks. Aria nods, positioning a pan over the stove.

"Got it going. We're gonna eat well tonight Scar," she says, smiling slightly. "How's your head doing? Does it hurt? Because I found some medicine in one of the bathroom closets we could use you needed it." She shakes her head slowly, telling her it doesn't hurt, but also trying to keep it form starting to hurt.

"No, I'm ok." She looks up from the picture book she had found and looks to her sister. "We're not staying here, right?" she asks. Aria shrugs.

"We still need to find mom and dad, but I think for however long we look, this would be a good place to stay. Once we find them, we're out of here." She looks in the fridge and pulls out a couple bottles of water. She throws one to her sister who catches it in her arms. "Drink. You're gonna need it."

She opens the cap and starts to drink, but stops when she sees something in the corner. "Aria?" she asks nervously, pointing over to the corner. Aria talks out her knife, ready to kill the lurker when all she sees is a little boy, a gun was pointed in his hands at the smaller girl. He was shaking.

"Who are you?" he asks. Aria could hear the nervousness in his voice. Aria lowers her knife and steps slowly towards the boy. "Don't hurt me," he whimpers. She smiles.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to ask if you're lost." The boy looks curiously between to two girls, trying to see if they would try anything.

"My parents were killed a year ago," he replies, looking down. Aria's eyes widen. This kids a kicker.

"You've been surviving for this long?" she asks quietly. He nods, lowering his gun.

"I've been alone. This had been the place I've gone to for shelter." She walks over and leans down to his eye level.

"Do you want us to go?" she calmly asks. 'Please don't say no,' she pleaded within her head. He stares at her for a second before shaking his head.

"I don't want to be alone anymore," he mumbles. She smiles at the young boy. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she walks him over to Scarlett and the kichen.

"Don't worry, you're not."

* * *

The boy ate gratefully at the kitchen table later that night. Aria had noticed a few little aspects about him. His hair was a dark blonde, nearly almost brown, and his eyes were green. He seemed so young, and the fact that he had been surviving on his own for the past year amazed her. She probably couldn't survive by herself for that long and she was sixteen.

He had a pistol around his waist and knives in a bag he had been holding. In that bag was medical supplies, food, water, and even a map of the area. The kid was smart.

She also noticed that he needed a shower very badly. His hair was very dirty, mud and gunk everywhere. His face had dirt smudges on it, and his hands were filthy. Who knew what had touched them. The kid probably had touched one of the walkers once.

But she didn't say anything. Just let the kid eat, because she could tell from the expression on his face that he hadn't had anything like real meat in a long time. It was probably his fantasy to even get real food let alone meat.

"So…we didn't catch your name," Aria says casually a she bites into the rabbit she had gotten earlier. She silently thanked Daryl the day she had been taught how to skin an animal. The boy looks up and smiles, food showing through his teeth. Scarlett cringes a bit, but Aria just chuckles. Oh, little boys.

"Hunter," he replies, swallowing his food. She nods, taking another bite of her dinner.

"And how old are you?" she asks when she had swallowed hers.

"Eight, at least I think," he replies, looking away for a moment before looking back with a determined face. "Yeah, eight," he smiles. She smiles back.

"And you've been all on your own for the past year?" she asks surprised. He nods gloomily and focuses his head back to his plate. "Oh, I'm sorry if that's painful to hear," she quickly says, not wanting to bring down the kids spirit. But he simply shakes his head.

"No, it's ok. I've gotten used to it." He takes another bite of his rabbit and continues to talk. "When the outbreak happened, my mama and papa took me to the safe zone in Atlanta, only when we got there it wasn't safe at all. So we left and ran into the forest. We met up with a group of people and for a month all of us survived as a group, each doing their own jobs. Then one day a herd of things attacked us. They got my papa first, and my mama told me to run away before they got her. I watched them both get eaten," he says, picking at his food a little. Aria walks over to the boy and leans next to him.

"Did they come back?" she asks tenderly. He shakes his head.

"No, someone shot them before they could." She nods and looks to the gun in his holster. Deciding to change the topic to a much lighter subject, she asks about the weapons.

"Have you been using a gun throughout this whole entire thing?" she asks. He nods, takes it out, and shoots it into the air. Aria and Scarlett cover their ears for the sound, and duck for the bullet, but nothing comes out. Not even a pink. She looks at the gun curiously. There was no silencer. "How come there was no sound coming out of it?" she asks. He smiles.

"I took out the part that make the cling sound and put it back together. Now, when I shoot the things, it doesn't attract more of them."

"How on earth did you do that?" she asks, staring at him. He shrugs.

"I just took it apart and put it back together." She raises an eyebrow. This kid might have been alone, but he was a motherfucken genius. Who had ever removed the sound a gun made when shooting? She never thought a kid would.

"That's pretty smart," she compliments. "Gonna turn out to be the next Einstein." He blushes at her comment and looks down.

"Thank you," he mumbles. She smiles again, happy she could find some way to put a smile on his face. She gets up and looks at the watch on her hand. It was nearly eleven.

"I think it's time we get to bed. Let's finish our food first."

* * *

Aria walk downstairs around twelve at night and peeps outside. She sighs. How were they going to find their parents? And what would she do with Hunter? Obviously he wasn't going to just go back out there on his own now. Not when he realized there was still living people in the world and not just walkers all around him.

She walks over to the fridge and peeks in, noticing the few things still left in there. Her eyes land on one specific thing though, and she didn't know if she wanted to take it or not. But, in one swift move, she thought 'Fuck it.'

She grabs the beer inside and pops the bottle off, taking a sip. She didn't care right now. She didn't care if she was underage. She had had a beer before and she would sure as hell have one now.

Taking another sip, she thinks back to the prison. God, everyone was separated. She didn't even have a clue where Carl was. And as much as she hated to admit it, she had developed a tiny crush on him. Tiny, but it was enough to worry if he was ok or not.

Her mind tries to remember if he had been on the bus that had left, but she shakes her head. She knew he wasn't. He was probably with his father. God, she didn't know if he was alive either. Same with Joey and all the other kids.

What about her mother and Daryl?

She shakes her head. No, they were alive. They were ok. And all of them would find each other and everything would be alright. Her hand keeps the beer cold. After a few more sips, she leaves it on the counter and starts to head back to the stairs when she sees Scarlett with her thumb in her mouth. She hadn't done that since she was a baby.

"Can you sing for me?" she asks, coming over to her. Aria nods, sitting down on the couch. Scarlett sits on her lap and leans against her body, closing her eyes.

"What do you want me to sing?" she asks softly.

"Dream is a Wish," she says. Aria smiles. Oh, Cinderella.

"_A dream is a wish, you're heart makes,_

_When you're fast asleep._

_In dreams, you will lose, your heartache._

_Whatever, you wish for, you keep."_

Aria sang slowly, caressing Scarlett's hair as she slowly fell asleep.

"_Have faith, in your dreams, and someday._

_Your rainbow will come shining through._

_No matter how your heart is grieving. If you keep on believing._

_The dream that you wish, will come true."_

Scarlett fell asleep easily in her arms, and Aria glanced back outside the window. 'The dream that you wish will come true.'

They'll be ok.

**A little sister bonding time :)**

**I've been wanting to write that since the beginning of this chapter. I don't know why but whenever I see someone singing in like a show or something to someone else, it always makes me feel comfortable, so I did it with this, especially since Aria is a singer like her mom. So both groups have found shelter and are determined to find each other, but both have new additions. Judith, the lost baby of Rick, and Hunter, the kid who has survived. Things are about to get a little harder, and with the threat of Carol, it's going to get worse. Can't wait to write the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed! REVIEW!**


	21. Gone

**My first midterms went well today. I think I passed. Just one really hard essay. Sad thing is that the passing grade in my school is a 70, and the essay was worth 35 points, so if I bombed it, I'm dead XD But I'm happy I'm finally getting to write this chapter. I've been procrastinating all day, starting to write another fanfic, although the chapters will be a little shorter than the ones in this story, and also I had a meeting to go too for my church thing, then two hours of dance, then studying, then dinner, and now I am finally writing this at 9:15. And knowing my shitty luck, it will probably not be up until twelve tonight. If I'm lucky.**

**And I also was on like a two hour call with my friend today to talk about walking dead, and we both think that Bethyl might happen. XD It's a huge possibility. I just love the two of them together. Now, I'm not gonna be doing full length memories anymore because I've gotten up to chapter 20, but I will be posting small glimpses into the past. Just not as long. **

**This chapter Aria, Scarlett, and Hunter leave the house and go in search for Aria and Scarlett's parents, while maybe there might be a possibility that Hunter could join the family. On the way, they have some…interesting encounters. And Anna and Daryl finally make peace with something they've had to deal with for a long time.**

**Let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

There was always something about a sunrise that sparked hope in Aria. Maybe it was the fact that it was just so bright and it woke you up. Maybe it was the shadow it casts in the morning over the tall trees. But all she knew was that watching it rise made her smile. It gave her courage to go out and find her parents, to be reunited, and then find the rest of the group.

She was not going to let this all go away because of one very stupid and idiotic man that she completely and utterly hated. Utterly hated.

If she came across any of the people that worked for him, she would kill them in a heartbeat. She wouldn't care. They killed half her family. So she would kill them back.

She had become a stone, cold bitch.

But you know what? It was to keep her family alive. And what she was willing to do she would do. No matter what would come her way she would be there to do it.

She was actually sitting on the roof at the moment, glancing at the rising sun in the distance. It was November now, and it was colder in the morning, but she didn't mind. She never got cold. She never got hot. She was neutral. Just herself. Nothing would ever get to her.

She sticks out her hand and snowflakes fly out, dazzling the air with their purity. They fell around her and landed at her feet, making her smile. She still couldn't believe that she could do this.

But hadn't Elsa said that her powers were dangerous as well? That she could hurt someone. Well, she could make a dagger out of ice and stab someone in the back of the head with it. It would hurt, and it would be very painful. She would do that to one of the Governors people.

She had seen enough in NYC to not be afraid of stabbing someone. She had seen plenty. Walking through the ghetto at ten o'clock at night with a hoody on your head automatically makes you part of their society. That's how she had always walked home from some of her friends house when her back wasn't working or her mother was at work. She had always kept a knife in her back pocket. Granted, it was a pocket knife, but it was still a knife that could easily hurt someone if they were to sneak up on her.

Her life had been protected by Joey once.

He had been walking her home and this creepy dude had come up to her, offering her something that she still couldn't remember what it was, because the odor radiating off the man still stuck in her brain. Then he started to touch her in places that she would rather not say, and Joey had punched him in the face. They had run away together to find a safe place before the asshole could come back with a gun pointed to their heads.

She had planned everything out.

Her and Joey would date, and then go to NYU, like her mother had done. She would get her B.A. in Musical Theater and Art, while he would in Directing and Musical Theater as well. They would graduate on the deans list and live in New York City of course. They would live together and succeed. Then he would ask her to marry her, to which she would say yes, and they would get married and have two kids, maybe more.

Yeah, she had planned everything out. She had wanted to be with him. She knew he had been the one, even if they hadn't even gone out. He was everything she ever wanted, and now she was gone.

The woods reminded her of everything that had happened that day. She had been in shock for a week. Her mother had even tried to coax her out by sending her to Time's Square with her friends alone, which she had never done. She still wouldn't have come out of the room. The image of him being torn to pieces haunted her mind. She didn't sleep, didn't watch TV, didn't even talk to her friends. All she did was stare outside at the Central Park landscape from above and think why did this happen to him? What had he ever done to deserve this? Did God really not want her to be happy.

But yet again, she had learned. Life went on. Plus, she had found another reason. Her sister, her parents, even her prison family, Hunter, Carl, bloody Joey. She had found something to live for.

And she was going to keep that something alive until this thing ended. She was not going to succumb to the world that they had been thrown into. She would protect Scarlett and Hunter with every ounce of strength she could, and when she ran out, she would try even harder. She use her powers for good and to help anyone that was in need. She would be the epitome of a mini badass.

And this world was not going to stop her from accomplishing those goals.

* * *

The three kids walked along the train tracks later that day. Surely something would lead them to find someone. She couldn't be the only one following these. Well, whatever the case, she and the three were walking along. Aria had her knife out and the two younger ones had their pistols, not both with the sound removed. Aria swore this kid was a genius in a past life or something. No way she would have ever thought of doing that. Hell, she didn't even think you COULD do that.

"Ari? Is your leg feeling all better?" Scarlett asks. Aria looks back for a second and nods, examining the wrapped bandage around her leg. She was wearing some shorts today, since she wanted to be at least a little good looking, even if there was no one around, and everyone could see the dirty bandage clearly. They needed to find new ones though. These would get infected sooner or later.

"It's doing better. You did a good job, Scar. But we're gonna have to find some more later. If we don't, this is gonna get infected with a virus or something. But you did a good job, kid," she chuckles, patting her head.

"Thanks. Mama taught me how to wrap it up nice and tight." Hunter looks at the two girls, his eyes curious and full of wonder.

"Is your mama nice?" he asks honestly. Scarlett turns to him and smiles.

"The bestest!" she replies. Aria's rolls her eyes at her little sisters choice of words. Oh, six year old's. Still didn't know how to talk.

"She's great. Really," Aria says to the boy. "She's been through a lot, but she's powered through all of it. She's not afraid to show people who she really is, and I admire my mother for that quality. Half the time, I might be a little too afraid to say anything , and I wish I could have my mother right beside me, helping me through it, so I just think of her."

"Is she still ok?" he asks. Aria knew he was wondering if she was bit or not. To keep some hope alive in her sister, she nods.

"I'm pretty sure she's still alive, kicking ass and taking names with our dad."

"Is your daddy nice?" he asks. This kid was full of questions. Scarlett nods.

"He taught me how to use a gun! And Aria how to use a crossbow!" His eyes widen slightly, and Aria could see some form of merry in his green eyes.

"A crossbow?" he asks excited. Scarlett nods, a smile on her face. "I've always wanted to use one!" Aria chuckles. If she did bring this kid back, he would freak out of he met Daryl.

"Whoa, are you sure you're able to carry one? You're just eight." He pouts.

"I'm strong! I can carry it!" he says determinedly. Rolling her eyes, she faces forward to the path in front of her, while hearing Scarlett and Hunter converse behind her. Two year age difference? Pshh, big deal. These two had plenty to talk about.

Her thoughts started to drift in and out of the past. Her and her friends. When she found out she got into the high school she had wanted to go to, she had nearly screamed in pleasure and fainted. She smiles at the memory.

"_Where the hell is the mailman?" Aria asks nervously, glancing outside the door to their apartment building every once and a while. Anna chuckles and places a hand on her shoulder._

"_He'll be here soon, sweetie. But you have to calm down your nerves. It's not going to help you." Both Joey and her friend, Maya, come up and nod._

"_Don't stress, Ari. I'm sure you got in," Joey reassures. Maya nods, smiling._

"_You probably gave them the best audition out of all the people that auditioned! You were amazing in singing 'Reflection!'" Aria smiles at the girl, but runs her hand through her hair. This was slowly driving her crazy._

_A moment later the mailman came in, and her mother had to practically hold her down from attacking the mailbox. When he had left, she runs over and pulls it open, pulling out her letter. She eyes it in her hands, afraid to open it. What if she hadn't gotten in? What if she had to go to public school?_

"_Aria, just open it!" Maya says, surprising her out of her thoughts. Aria gulps and tears open the envelope. She slowly takes out to letter and begins to skim and read, and tears began to start in her eyes, threatening to spill over._

Dear Miss. Williams.

We are pleased to tell you we have accepted you at LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts on a full scholarship. We await your response-

_She didn't have to read anymore. She threw the letter up the air and screamed joyfully, running around the lobby, confusing some of the occupants while other's smiled, knowing what she was happy about. "No more PS! I got in!" she screams, practically bouncing off the walls._

_Her mother's and Maya's arms go around her in a bone crushing hug, while Joey lays an arm on her shoulder and pulls her close, giving his one arm hug that she loved so much and had grown to love even more._

"_It's time to start a new life. Are you ready?" Maya asks. Aria raises an eyebrow._

"_Hell yeah!"_

She remembered everything about that day. The joyfulness she had felt. The proudness in herself. Also to fact that she was FINALLY getting away from the bullying! She would be FREE! She would be able to go to school and not be afraid of getting picked on! She could be herself again!

She could finally just be her.

But the old her was gone, and was replaced by this hard girl who was ready to survive. But, the old one did come out every once and a while, singing some of her favorite songs to keep her spirt going or her sisters. She had done it last night.

"My papa was never nice to me," she suddenly hears from behind her. Turning her head, she glances at the small boy who was looking down at the tracks. "When he got home, he would drink beer and then beat mama. She would try to protect me but it only got her hurt worse. I would step up so she wouldn't get hurt. Mama was the one who liked me. Papa didn't." Aria stops, her heart breaking at hearing every word in this boy's story.

She walks over to the boy and leans down to his eye level, so they were face to face. "Well, I can tell you that that's not going to happen anymore. And you're not going to be alone. You're going to be fine, and we will keep you alive. Or at least I will." Scarlett glares at her sister and crosses her arms.

"I can too!" she accuses. Aria raises an eyebrow at her.

"You can barely shoot a gun without flinching!" she chuckles. Scar looks down, her cheeks slightly red.

"It's hard," she mumbles. Aria laughs and looks back to the boy.

"Now, we are going to head back out there and keep looking, ok? Just tell me if you need anything and-" Her talking was stopped by the sound of something behind them. Aria turns around, knife ready to throw, when she sees what it is and visibly relaxes.

It was just a dog.

A beagle, to be exact.

"Hey boy," she says carefully, leaning down to it. It pads slowly towards her, trying to see if she would make any moves. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Just want to say hello." She put out her hand and dog walks up to it, sniffing the palm and the fingers, before liking it slightly. Aria smiles. This dog was ok. "Hey, boy. What's your name?" she says when it comes closer. She notices there was a color on it and she saw the name 'Pepper.' "Pepper?" she asks. The dog wags his tail. She smiles. "Interesting name," she chuckles. He licks her face, making her smile and laugh.

"A puppy?" both kids ask. Aria nods, placing the dog's head down. "Can we keep him?"

"I don't know, guys…maybe-" She stops in her tracks, looking at the dog.

Didn't beagles hunt?

"How would you like to come with us?" she asks the dog. He barks in reply. A dog. They had a dog. Who else would they meet trying to find her parents?

She prayed to God neither were allergic.

* * *

Anna held Judith close to her later that day. They had gone out earlier to look around the perimeter when Judy had been asleep. But still no sign of her two daughters. Her heart broke at the thought of them.

They should head on the train tracks. She was positive that's where they would be. Maybe even a little farther. She would find them, and everything would be ok. The family would be ok. But then there was the thought of Judith at hand.

Was Rick still alive? And if he wasn't, was she the person taking it on to be the mother? Granted, she did love the baby. But the fact that both her bio parents would be dead hurt her. Especially since Rick was so nice to her and the kids. He was part of the reason they were even allowed in the prison in the first place. The place she had called home.

The prison.

God, just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes. All the memories made would be gone. All the time and effort she had put into making that place actually look good would be gone. Her cell. Jesus. She was just happy her notebook-

HER NOTEBOOK.

Sweet baby mother of God she had left her notebook there!

The one thing she had had with her since the beginning of high school she had left in a burning building filled to the brim now with walkers.

She shook her head. She couldn't believe it. She had actually left it. And there was no way in hell she would be getting it back either way.

She glances down at Judith's sleeping form and smiles. She really did miss taking care of babies though.

She did want to have another kid. Just not in this world. But if she was, she would want it to be somewhere safe and sound, not on the road or anything like that. She would want her baby to survive and thrive, just like this little tike had been doing for the past, what, six months now? Seven?

Lil' Ass-kicker.

That name simply made her smile. Only Daryl. She wouldn't even call a kid that and she was very vulgar when it came to nicknames. He would know. Oh, she had a terrible one for him back in high school, but she had ceased and deceased when she went to college. It had been immature…but it was funny as hell at the same time.

She places Scarlett back in the crib in the room and walks over to the kitchen, looking at the note Daryl had left her earlier that day. He had gone out to look for the kids while she helped Judith. Maybe find something to eat later on.

She missed the nights she would spend with him. Just her and him. No one else would be around, no one else would be looking at them. Almost every weekend in high school he would come around her house, usually something in his hand, and the two would just talk for the whole night. There was this one time where had had brought a bottle of alcohol to her house. It had been her first time.

"_Jesus, this crap tastes like shit," she chuckles, handing him the bottle. He snickers and takes a full swing, then hands it back to her. "How about we make a drinking game out of it?" she asks. He raises an eyebrow._

"_Like what?" _

"_You ask me something about me, and if you get it right, I take a sip, a vice versa." He nods, thinking for a second, and then turning to her. _

"_Ever failed a test, bookworm?" he teases. She glares at him and takes a sip from the bottle. "No way," he chuckles. She rolls her eyes._

"_It was a spelling test in 3__rd__ grade," she mumbles._

"_Those don't count!" he replies._

"_They do in my book!" She hands him the bottle. "Whatever. Have you ever had sex?" He raises his eyebrows at the question, but sips anyway. Her eyes widen. "With who?" she asks, truly interested. He snorts._

"_None of yer business, princess," he says, handing her the bottle. "How about scared the shit out of your parents?" She snorts and takes the bottle, taking a nice long sip._

"_Plenty of times…um…what about yours?" The game went on like this for quite a while until both were slightly tipsy. Anna had her head on Daryl's shoulder later on, slowly falling asleep to the sound of the cicadas outside. He turns his head towards hers._

"_Tired?" he chuckles. She nods, a yawn escaping her mouth. "Yeah, alcohol will do that to ya."_

She smiles and leans against her counter, staring outside the window. It was now almost night. She still hadn't come in contact with the kids. But she would. Sooner or later. They would be reunited. She closes her eyes and sighs, finally feeling at peace for the first time in forever.

That is, until a sharp pain shot through her leg and up her body.

She falls to the ground in pain, looking down at what had just happened. There was a small gash on her other leg now. She had been shot. But-

She was forcefully dragged up by someone who banged her against the wall. Right now, her vision was fucked up. She couldn't see a damn thing. And her knife was all the way at the other end of the kitchen. She was weaponless and this stranger was attacking her.

Except it wasn't a stranger.

"I should have killed you a long time ago," the stranger- a woman- hisses at her. Anna's eyes open and she sees the hard glare of someone she had come to hate .

Carol.

"Why…why are you here!" she struggles against the firm grip the woman has on her, but her leg hurt too much. She could barely move it.

"To finish you off," she says, taking out a knife and putting it against her neck. Anna's eyed widen slightly, but she doesn't show fear. Carol wanted to see fear. She and the Governor would have been perfect for each other. "You know, I knew something was bound the happen between you and Daryl. Something. I could see it from the moment you came. The way he looked at you when he said your name. The kids. He's in love. I knew it. So I knew in order to get him you have to be out of the picture. And now you will be," she says, pressing the knife a little further into her neck.

"Daryl will never love you…why can't you get that through your thick skull!" She felt it penetrate her skin. "Carol, doing this will only make him hate you more. Don't you care about his happiness?" She stops, and Anna inwardly breathes a sigh of relief. "Aren't you his friend? Don't you love him?" She nods slowly. "You want to see him happy, and if you kill me, or you kill the kids, you're taking away his one true happiness. He'll be heartbroken, and never speak to you again. You need to let this go. I know you love him, but he just like you as a friend. A sister. Nothing more, nothing less. And I'm sorry, but I can't help who he falls in love with. Who destiny aligns him with. And it was me. But you can still be there for him and be his friend, not this crazy girl. He told me about who you once were. How loving you used to be to everyone and head strong, now…I think we can get her back."

Carol had stepped away farther for Anna to place her hand on her leg and grab a knife from behind, to hide it quickly behind her back.

"This can all be solved. We can figure this out together." Carol looks at her, and for a moment, she thought that she had actually given in and tried to compromise this, but a second later she pulls out her knife again.

"I'd much rather kill you. You're kind of a bitch." She backs her up again and tries to stab her, but not before both hear the safety of a gun being slipped off. Both women turn to look at the person, and Anna sighs with happiness.

Daryl.

"Carol, get away from her. Now." He wasn't messing around. He was not going to let his wife get killed because of this crazy bitch. She was not the Carol she used to be. He had heard the whole speech Anna had said, but he knew that she was far too deep to even come back.

"Daryl…I liked you first," she whines. "I was with you through all of this. I love you," she says, coming closer to him, but he just backs up and keeps the gun pointed.

"I don't love ya. I never have. Ya were my friend, but I guess that's down the drain now too, ain't it?" he growls. Carol stares at him like she's been slapped, but looks down for a second.

"Fine," she whispers, looking back up at him. "If I can't have you, neither can she," she growls, racing over to Anna. She aims her knife above Anna's heart and was about to plunge it deep before she is rocketed by two separate things.

Gun shots.

And a stab to the stomach.

Carol drops to the ground in agony, and Anna runs over to Daryl, who takes her in his arms. "Are ya ok?" he asks, looking for any wounds. He sees the gun wound on her leg and glares at it, but she brings her hand up to his chin and forces him to look her in the eyes.

"I'll be ok," she whispers, kissing his cheeks softly. She then grabs the pistol from his hands and looks at the woman practically drowning in her own blood. She walks-no, limps- to her. Carol looks up, her eyes closed.

"Daryl," she whimpers. She must have thought her boots were Daryl's. She scoffs.

"Shut up," she says, pointing the gun at her head. She pulls the trigger and a bullet goes through her skull, ending her life there.

Carol was gone.

She looks to Daryl and she grins stupidly, but leans against the wall, her vision suddenly going blurry.

"Anna?" Daryl asks, coming over to her concerned. She swallows and breathes. In and out.

"I'm…ok. Gun…shot." He nods and takes her in his arms bridal style up to their room, leaving the body of Carol behind them. They would deal with that in the morning.

She feels like she is going to pass out, so before this happens, she snuggles a bit into his chest and closes her eyes, smiling a bit.

Ding, dong, the witch is dead.

**I wish that would happen in the show. So now Carol is officially gone and all the crazyness she brought. So next chapter I think the family will reunite…but maybe not. Maybe something else is coming…you never know. Gotta read to find out. I'm just happy I finished this chapter XD Hope you enjoyed! REVIEW PLEASE! :)**


	22. Together

**Oh, tomorrow is the last day of midterms! Thank the Lord in heaven above! This had been such a stressful week for me, but I have been trying so hard to update as much as possible and I think I've been doing a good job of it. But hopefully the next few days I have off from school, so I can have a little bit more time to write. But most of my chapters probably won't be up until nighttime because I lake to pace out my stories and make sure the chapter makes sense and doesn't sound like shit like some of the chapters in other things I've written sound like. But, I am counting down to the days Walking dead returns. Jesus, it's so close. It's freaking killing me! And holy crap I just want to die my God! The new 'trailer'! But I still haven't seen really a lot of what I want to see in the show, but, I have no doubt that it will happen. **

**So, in this chapter, the kids continue to look for their parents and meet up with someone from before, while Daryl and Anne are heading out to look as well. This should be interesting…**

**On with the story!**

* * *

When you get shot, you usually expect to be screaming, your body racking with pain, or you just pass out from shock. But Anna? No, she just passed out and woke up. No pain, no gain. She didn't feel anything.

When her eyes open, she glances around the bedroom she was put in last night by Daryl. The memories from the night before come back to her mind and she smiles but cringes at the same time. Carol was finally gone from their lives and maybe they could finally relax without having the threat of her constantly on their asses. But she still had to burn the body. She still had to give rid of it.

She really didn't want to see the gun hole.

Even though she didn't like her, killing someone was not in her blood, at least not the living. She didn't like to threaten people, but when said person threatens her family, she has no choice, and sometimes she just does it. But it still made her cringe every time she does. It just didn't seem like her.

But she had to be this stone cold person. She had to be strong. She had to survive and protect herself and Daryl. Judith.

God, Judith.

She didn't know if Rick was alive or not. And if he wasn't, was Judith hers to take care of? Carl wasn't around, and he was also a fifteen year old kid, so him taking care of her was kind of out of the question even though he is her sister.

Then her mind went back to Beth. She was like a surrogate mother to the girl. She would be a good mother to her. She had kept her alive throughout the past few months. She wondered if she was still alive.

She had thought that maybe the whole group would meet up again, but that idea always pushed its way out of her head. It just seemed too unreal for it to happen. She just couldn't see it happening. But deep down, she prayed that they were all still alive and healthy. No, surviving would suffice for her. She didn't care about healthy. As long as they were alive, she was ok.

Her hands unroll from the ball that is her hand and she sticks them out, staring at them. Her powers would have come in handy back at the prison. Why didn't she use them? Had she really consumed herself so much that she couldn't just let one fire ball go at the Governor or the tank?

Then again, Daryl had destroyed the tank easily. Which she found incredibly attractive and it automatically turned her on. But, no. She had to have TWO injured legs now. Two. God, this would be hell for her.

She stretches her body and cringes slightly at the painful muscles in her leg. She could walk, but it would be a bitch after a few hours. Even with the strength she had, it would hurt so much at the end of the day.

She flicks her finger and watches as a tuft of fire comes out of it, lighting up the slightly dark room. It seemed to be six in the morning. The sun was just rising. She moves her finger to the candle beside the bed and lights it, blowing out the flame a second later.

She sighs and leans against the headboard, staring out the window. What was she going to do? She was going insane. She needed to find the kids or else she would go senile soon enough. And it would not be pretty. It never was when she went full crazy. Daryl had been the victim of one of her fits once, and she had felt so bad for having to make him go through that.

She chuckles at the memory of her driving him crazy. But that was one of the things that they did. They would say stupid little things that would make the other person irritated. But sooner or later it would both end up with their mouths connected and their clothes thrown to the floor in a pile of dirtyness.

She snorts, shaking her head. She hears the door open and her head travels to Daryl, who had a mug of something in his hands. He sees that she is awake and smiles small at her.

"Mornin'" he says, sitting next to her and handing her the mug. She looks inside and smiles. Coffee. She immediately puts it to her lips and chucks down half of it, causing him to snicker at her expression. "Like it?" he chuckles. She pulls back and smiles huge at him.

"Love it!" she says gleefully, placing it down next to her on the bedside table. She turns back to him and looks at his dirty clothes. "Ok, we're in a house that is full of shit. It probably has new clothes, I mean, come on. If you can't take a shower, then at least change your clothes, you smelly redneck," she ends, chuckling slightly. He raises an eyebrow and mockingly thinks, placing his hand on his chin.

"No, do I want to change or do I want to kiss ya?" he asks, making Anna laugh. "Ya guess that one," he replies, leaning in and connecting her lips to his. She smiles into the kiss and puts her arms around his neck, her hands tangling in his hair, pulling him closer. This was what she wanted. But she had to go back to topic. The kids.

"We need to head out today," she says, pulling back from his lips. He looks skeptically at her.

"Anna, I don't think your legs are ready yet." She groans and shakes her head.

"I can walk! It just hurts a little. Daryl, we need to find them. If I stay any longer, I will go insane here. I need to know if their ok or not. I'll even let you walk around in the dirty clothes if we can leave today." He chuckles at her comment and shakes his moppy head. 'I still need to cut that,' she chuckles inwardly.

"Are ya sure ya want to risk going out on those legs?" he asks. She nods, a determined look on her face. "Anna, ya got shot…twice."

"I'll be fine. I need to find them. Judith has a baby carriage that we can use to bring her along. Please, Dar-" He interrupts' her by yet again connecting his lips with hers. She sighs and kisses back, even though she still had more to say.

"We'll go find them," he says when he pulls back. She smiles. "But not right now. Just a little more time, ok? Make sure those legs are ready to run." She sighs but nods anyway. That's the one thing she could agree too.

"So…no changing in clothes?" she asks cheekily. He snorts, causing her to laugh. "Ok, ok, you don't have to do that, but I have an idea where we could go. There's a train track about a mile from here if we keep heading north. We follow those and we're bound to find them. I have such a feeling that they're following them." He nods, getting up from the bed and glancing out the window.

"I saw them too. They probably did as well. But we're not heading out right now. Ya need to rest, at least just for a little while, ok? Don't get that sexy ass out of bed." She pouts playfully.

"I thought you liked my sexy ass?" she asks, teasing him slightly.

"I do, just not when you're injured and every time ya move yer legs ya cringe. Don't get out. I'll know," he finishes, closing the bedroom door behind him. She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, but does realize he will know if she got out of bed. He was a hunter. He heard practically everything.

Taking one more sip of her coffee, she closes her eyes and tried to get at least another hour of sleep, the fact that she was looking for her daughters today still fresh in her mind.

* * *

Anna sighs as she looks into the full length mirror on the wall in the bedroom. She had pillaged through the drawers of the couples house, and had thankfully found clothes her size. The jeans she had been wearing were now covered in dirt and blood. Her shirt was ripped, and her hair was a mess. She looked like the epitome of a hobo back in New York City. She hated seeing them. She wished she could give them all her money and give them a proper home, besides a homeless shelter. Real food. Real bed. A real life other then the life they had been living.

And now that world looked like it was paradise compared to this piece of shit place.

She straightens out her shirt and looks at the mirror one last time. She was wearing a white tank top that fit her body perfectly, black denim jeans that almost reached the bottom of her legs, and her black military boots that went up to where the jeans stopped. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and all strings of dark brown material were tied back into her hairband.

She walks over to the bed and looks at all the supplies she had from the prison and stuff she had found. She puts her belt through the loop holes and places her pistol in her holster. She picks up her knives, all freshly polished and ready to be thrown again. They find their way into their holster and she continues on in her collection of supplies. She picks up a few bandages and some first aid supplies, and puts it into her back pocket. She takes a quick drag of her water and places it in her bag that she has, along with other supplies she had picked up. Then finally, she picks up the brand new leather jacket. She smiles. It must have been just bought before all of this happened. It was a girls leather jacket, nice and black, and it fit Anna perfectly. She had actually wanted one before the world went batshit, but she had never had the time to get one. Now, she had one.

And there was no way she was letting it go.

She places the jacket on her and grabs the last thing she had found. A nice brand new pack of cigarettes. She wasn't really a smoker. Hell, she rarely ever smoked. But she knew that in hard times, she really did need one. And she knew that Daryl needed some too. He had run out of some a few days before the prison was taken, and she knew that when she showed them to him, he would act like a giddy kid on Christmas morning.

She places it in her pocket and sighs at her appearance. She had lost so much weight since the beginning of this. It was still a good body, but now when she took off her clothes she could see her ribs. Which was obviously not normal for a thirty year old woman that was five foot eight.

She walks out of the room, her bag in her hand, and walks down the stairs, heading to where Judith slept. But only she wasn't asleep. And she wasn't in her crib.

Looking around, she tries to see if she was in the high chair in there, but she was not. She looks around her, her knife out, ready to put her knife into the sicko that took her. Walking to the living room, she all but drops the knife at what she sees, a smile on her face. Daryl was rocking Judith back and forth, trying to get her to fall asleep. Her heart swelled at the sight of him holding the baby. Even though he seemed all tough and stubborn on the outside, he was the biggest softie when it came to kids. Anna would know. He was Scarlett's dad, after all. He had been around when she was a baby.

"Ya were gonna wake up Anna, ya know that right," he said softly to the baby. "I love her more than anything, but when ya wake her up, it's not pretty," he chuckles. "She's like crazy lady. She's all grumpy and mean, but sooner or later, she always gives in and forgives me." She snorts from behind him, startling him enough to turn around. He sees that she had been listening the whole time and he starts to mumble things, some of which she can pick out. "I didn't mean that," he finishes. She rolls her eyes.

"I know you did, but just don't say it again, or next time I won't be so forgiving." She takes the baby from his arms and notices she's sleeping soundly. "Wow, you're really good with her. She's fast asleep. Not to mention your little 'conversation' with her. That was adorable," she teases. He snorts.

"Dixon's ain't adorable," he replies. She rolls her eyes and places Judith in the baby carrier.

"Well guess what? You just were. Accept it. It was kind of hot," she chuckles, straightening herself back up to get a good look at him. That's when she finally realized he did change his clothes. He still had his leather vest on, but now he had on a new checkered shirt and some new jeans. She smiles. "You did change your clothes," she says happily.

"Ya did too," he says, and she could tell he had a hint of mischievous in his voice. She rolls her eyes and bends over to get more of the baby supplies in her bag. She could feel his eyes on her ass.

"We have a baby in front of us, Daryl," she chuckles, getting up and looking at him. He was amazingly closer to her and she smirks. "But that won't stop you, will it?" she chuckles. His hands go to her waist and pull her closer.

"Ya expect me to resist ya in tight ass denim jeans? Yeah, when pigs fly," he replies.

"Or when the dead walk?" she jokes lightly. He rolls his eyes and kisses her deeply on the lips, her replying just as deeply. But this was not the time to be doing this kind of stuff. They had to get out on the road and look for the kids. They needed to go. "Daryl, we gotta go," she chuckles, pulling back.

"We can't take out a couple of minutes?" he replies. She smacks his head playfully, causing him to chuckle and rub the back of his head.

"Daryl," she says sternly. He pulls back and grabs the other bag with stuff in it.

"I was just jokin', Anna. But I do like the new jacket. Adds a while 'nother level of hotness to ya." She rolls her eyes and grabs the baby carrier and her bag. Her knife was still in her hand ready to pounce on anything that jumped on them.

"I know, right? I'm so badass. Won't it drive you crazy that you can't touch this?" she says, patting her thigh slightly. He growls lowly, and she chuckles.

"Don't test me, Anna." She laughs loudly and kisses his lips once more.

"Maybe after we find them, ok? I'm getting frustrated too," she whispers when she pulls back. "But for now, we focus on the kids." He nods slowly.

"Right….kids," he says, trying to regain his senses. God, she had such an effect on him. She smiles happily and walks forward to the street, ready to brave the world again.

"I know this is cheesy, but together?" she asks, sticking out her hand. He chuckles slightly but grabs it, intertwining their fingers together and squeezing it comfortably. She couldn't help but think how well they fit together, like they were made for each other. Then again, they kind of were.

"Together," he replies. And the two set out into the forest and to the train tracks.

* * *

You know when you're going to a new school for the first time and on the first day you're the new kid and everyone is ignoring you because you're new and don't really mean anything? Yeah. That's kind of what Aria felt like right now. Watching her sister and Hunter talk.

Now, she wasn't mad about this. In fact, she was quite happy her sister had someone to talk to that was almost her age. It felt nice. But now Aria was just sitting near the trees they were camping at for the day watching the two talk, and they just kept talking and talking and talking. They never seemed to run out of information.

"Do you watch Spongebob?" Hunter asks later on. Scarlett nods fervently.

"I love it! It's my favorite show!" Hunter smiles at her.

"What's your favorite character? Mine's Squidward!" She gasps.

"Squidward!? But he doesn't like Spongebob! He's so mean to him!" she accuses. He laughs.

"He doesn't do it all the time. He's actually very nice to Spongebob sometimes because he feels bad for him so he does nice stuff. Remember when he dressed up as Santa so Spongebob would still believe?" Scarlett laughs.

"He didn't look like Santa! It was so funny! Especially his nose! But yeah I guess you're right. He can be nice." He looks at her expectantly.

"So? What's yours?" She shrugs her shoulders.

"I like Patrick. He's funny and pink! I love the colors pink and purple." That reminded Aria of something. She reaches into her bag and takes out a box full of something special for the little girl.

"Oh, Scarlett, I have something for you," she sings, waving the box on her face. The little girl squeals and reaches for it, but Aria makes it out of her reach so she can't grab it.

"Give it, Ari!" she yells, reaching for the box. Aria chuckles and give the container to her. Scarlett rips open the top and squeals. There were a bunch of purple and pink daisies and lilies inside. And on top was a flower crown. "It's a crown!" Aria chuckles and places it on her little sister's head.

"For my little diva sister." Scarlett glares at her. "I mean princess," she chuckles. Scarlett smiles and hugs her sister tightly. "Can't breath," she gasps out.

"Thank you, Ari," she whispers. Aria hugs back.

"You're welcome." She turns her head to Hunter. "Hey, if I knew you liked flowers I would have made you one too, Hunter." He snorts and shakes his head.

"I don't want to wear flowers on my head." Aria chuckles and goes over to him.

"Well, when we were in the little drugstore, I picked you up something small. It's not as cool as flower crown, but I think it'll do." She hands him the small thing and his eyes light up. It was a mini toy crossbow.

"Cool! Thanks, Aria!" he says, pointing it at imaginary things. Aria chuckles again and pats his head.

"No problem, kid, but right now we need to get down to the river. Both of you need to clean those clothes. Cause damn they stink."

* * *

Aria kept watch while the two washed the shirts. A walker walked up to her and she plunged her knife into the head. Watching it fall to the ground. She had killed a total of six now around this area. Sooner or later she had to dins new clothes because the ones she was wearing were all covered in muck.

Her mind wandered back to the day the prison was taken over. Jeez, had that only been a couple of days ago? She had seen Carol there with the Governor. She knew she was evil. Just not that evil. She prayed that she was dead now. It would just add more stress onto her life if she found out she was still alive somehow out there.

She wondered if any of the kids were safe. Most of them had been on the bus out of the prison, but she had no clue how far that went. The two girls she didn't see go on it were Mika and Lizzie.

She had to say. Those girls were tough. She had seen them shoot down a few living people, which she did not think kids her age could do that without cringing. They simply didn't give a flying fuck. They just shot at them and didn't care.

She wondered if her mother had trained the kids or something. That seemed like something she would do. She definitely had something to do with them. Strange names too. She heard of an artist called Mika, but never really a person. But she wasn't judging. The name was actually kind of pretty.

Plus, she was used to weird names. Hell, hers was rarely used. She had a friend named Nebraska. She was named after a state. She felt so bad for her. But people just called her Brask. That's what Aria had done too.

They had been close friends as well. She wanted to be an actress. Be the next Meryl Streep, even though she was incredibly old. But she admired her friends' persistence. She didn't know if she was alive or not either. All of her friends she had no clue. Everyone but Joey she didn't know if they were alive.

"Aria! There's someone in the bushes!" both kids scream at her. Aria looks to the bushes in front of them and had her gun pointed now, but backs up when she sees that it's three people. Two children and one man. One big man.

"Aria?" all three of them asks. Aria smiles and puts her gun to the side.

"I can't believe you're alive," she says running over to the people. They had just found Lizzie, Mika, and Tyreese. They were one step closer into reuniting the whole entire group.

* * *

Aria, Scarlett, and Hunter all sat with the three survivors from the prison. They had talked about how they had survived for the past few days. Aria had introduced Hunter to the other kids, and they got along well. All the little kids talked while Aria sat with Lizzie and Tyreese.

"Still haven't seen your parents yet, huh?" Tyreese asks nibbling on the rabbit Aria had cooked earlier. Aria nods sadly.

"Yup. But I know they're out there looking for us. I can feel it." Lizzie nods.

"I have a feeling they are too. They aren't just going to leave you and Scarlett behind. And now that Hunter is in the picture, I think they'll take him too. He seems like a mini-Daryl," she chuckles at the end. Aria nods.

"You should see what I found him in a drugstore earlier today. It was a toy crossbow! Oh I wish you could have seen his face!" she chuckles. "It was like a kid on Christmas morning! Then again, it was a toy," she laughs. The two others snicker quietly. "Have you heard anything from the others?" Aria asks quietly. Lizzie shakes her head.

"Nada. The only person I had come across was Tyreese, and we've been with each other since the prison. Not to mention I saved his butt back at the prison." Aria smirks.

"I saw that. Left your guard down Ty," she chuckles. He rolls his eyes.

"One time," he chuckles.

"Could have got you killed," she says back. He drops his fork and starts to say something but the sound of someone calling the two girls names stops him. Aria hears this too.

"Mama?" she whispers. She gets up from the log. Scarlett looks up from her spot and sees her sister standing.

"Are you ok Aria?" she asks, walking over to her. She only points towards the forest.

"Mama?!" she yells. Scarlett realizes what she's doing.

"Mommy?! Daddy?!" she yells into the darkness. They hear the calling back.

"Aria?" they hear. Mom. It was Anna's voice. "Scarlett?!" she cries. All of a sudden, two figures emerge from the darkness and both Aria and Scarlett run up to them.

"Mama!" Aria cries, running into her mother's arms. Scarlett runs up to Daryl and he takes her up in his arms. Her arms go around his neck and she cries into his shoulder.

"It's ok, Scar. We're here," he says, soothing her. She didn't think they would see them again. She had almost lost hope.

Aria pulls back from her mother and hugs Daryl as well, one of his arms going around her to return the gesture. "Jesus I was starting to lose hope you would find us," Aria says, looking at both of them. Anna smiles. "And you have Judith! I'm so happy she's ok," she says, peering at the sleeping baby.

"We would never give up trying to find you, and we did, didn't we? And yeah, she's ok. And alive," she chuckles. Aria smiles. Anna's eyes move to Tyreese and the two girls. She smiles at them. "God, I'm so happy someone else is alive other than them," Anna says, coming over to greet the two girls and Tyreese. He smiles at her.

"Glad to be alive." She chuckles happily and now her eyes travel to the unknown little boy with them. He was looking on at the happy family reunion with a little sadness in his eyes, bit also happiness that his new friends had found their mommy and daddy.

"And who is this?" she asks nicely, walking over to him. Daryl looks over to the kid and notices the small toy crossbow next to him. He raises an eyebrow and puts Scarlett down on the ground.

"I see he likes a crossbow, huh?" he says, coming over to the boy. Hunter looks down embarrassed, a small smile on his face.

"This," Aria started, walking over to the boy and placing a hand on his back, encouraging him to look up. "Is Hunter."

**THEY'RE REUNITED! YEAH!** **So now the family is back together, thank God, and Tyreese along with the kids are still around. I actually really like them in the show XD so I decided to incorporate them into the story. I'm planning on building a friendship with Lizzie and Aria, even with the few years' age difference. But I think they can actually turn out to be some good friends. And how did you think about Anna teasing Daryl? XD I've wanted to do that for a while. So now they are going to meet Hunter, and of course he's going to play a part in the story. I can't wait to write the next chapter, but I think tomorrow I might take a break because midterms have been kicking my ass and I need a little day to relax a little. But I will say that some of the gang will come back into the picture. Next chapter they head off to find a good place to stay, and meet some people. Hope you enjoyed! REVIEW!**


	23. Haven

**Oh, I needed that day off from writing this story lol. So if some people hadn't noticed I posted another new story on my page and don't worry, I'm not abandoning this story in any way. But I will say that the other one is going to have more relationship development then this one because it's a new character, not someone from someone's past. And I think it turned out pretty good. But I need reviews to see if people like it or not and to see where I should go with it. So that would be great if I could get some on this and that story. It would be a great help. Love all the readers, just reviews help. That's all.**

**And OMG ten days until walking dead comes back! What do you think is going to happen? I hope Judy is alive. I kept her alive in my story but I hope she's ok on the show. It wouldn't be fair if they killed her off. Then again, it's the Walking Dead. You don't know what the fuck's gonna happen in that show XD**

**Onto the story!**

* * *

Anna had always been a forest girl. Ever since she was little she loved to go into the forest and climb the tall green tree's and look out into the landscape. She had this one place that had the perfect view of everything. It was high up, one of the tallest trees in the world, she though at the time. She could see the lake that she went to swim in on the right, and to the left she could see the town and the city in the distance. She was able to see anything from high up in the trees.

She loved to look at the little creatures wondering around on the bark, not to mention she loved to hunt from up there. No creature from the ground would expect a human to jump from a branch above them and pounce on them. But no, she had done that many, _many _times. And had always come home with something for her dad to grill up and eat later for dinner.

Right now, all she wanted to do was climb the tree next to her and relax. The past few days had taken its toll on her. She was almost killed twice, she had killed Carol, hurt her leg, and now she just couldn't sleep. She had insomnia. Of fucking course she had insomnia.

But, even if she had it, it gave her something to do during the night. She kept watch.

She knew that one day she was just going to collapse on the ground and pass out. But she really hoped that that didn't happen anytime soon. She needed to stay awake and alert. For her daughter and the group. She needed to find the rest. She needed to find some people alive.

It had been eating away at her mind that these people she had grown so close too might not be alive. That they might be gone from her life forever. But whenever those thoughts popped up into her head, she pushed them back with determination and alertness. She needed to be strong. If not for her then her family.

The group had been staying in this clearing for the past week. They would search miles upon miles for anyone, but hadn't come in contact with shit. Even Aria noticed that half the time it seemed completely hopeless. But she still continued to search with her parents and with her friends.

Now, it was almost a week and a half after the prison attack, and Anna needed a shower so badly. Her clothes were covered in muck. She needed to at least clean them.

And that's what brought her down to the river today.

She had to say, for what it was worth, the place was pretty good. It didn't seem contaminated, so they had been eating the fish from it every night with the occasional meat from the forest. It was partially warm as well. The water wasn't as cold as someone would expect it to be, which often made Anna wonder if it led out into the ocean or something like that. If it did, well, that's be a nice day.

A day at the beach.

Oh, she would give anything for that.

She had loved going to Robert Moses down in Long Island. It was so much cooler there during the summer then it was in the city. She would lay in the sand and try to get somewhat of a tan while watching her children play in the water or make a sand castle. And ironically, whenever she went to the beach, she always never really wanted to go in the water, but she somehow always ended up in it when a certain someone always threw her in. And she would be mad, but she would get over it sooner or later.

Even now, she would give anything just to have those moments again.

The last time she had gone to the beach was a few months before the outbreak. It had been bright and sunny. Her daughters had been at school, so she and Lily decided to go and have some fun.

"_How's Aria doing in school?" Lily asks as the two lie on the beach and watch the other people play in the water. Anna smiles, rubbing some sunscreen on her legs._

"_Great. She's already on high honor roll. She had taken so much out of a horrible experience and turned it into something great. I'm so proud of her," she praises, leaning back against the umbrella pole stuck in the sand. Lily chuckles._

"_You should be. That girl's been through a lot in the past few years. Almost as much shit you went through during high school in senior year. But she really had made herself something special. I saw her paintings the other day in her room. She's gonna end up being the next DiVinchi or MichaelAngelo. Amazing talent. And she's only 14," she laughs. Anna smiles._

"_She'll be fifteen in a month," she sighs. "God, fifteen years. Has it really been that long?" she laughs. Lily nods._

"_I can't believe it either. But look at you now. You're a money making machine in Broadway, already won two Tony's…I mean come on. You really took your life out of the gutter." Anna rolls her eyes._

"_My life wasn't in the gutter like some other peoples stories. In fact, I lived in a very nice house. My life just sucked. I was harassed by people I didn't know, raped at 15, pregnant at 15, harassed again in senior year, and then left it all behind to start a new dream. I mean, I DID get a free ride to NYU, so it just proves that I'm smarter then everyone in that dumb ass school. God, please just shut their mouths." Lily smiles._

"_I wonder what they think now. You're making more money than anyone of those asshole's." Anna snorts._

"_They're probably thinking 'If I be nice to her now will she give me money?' Ha! Not a chance dickheads," she mumbles, adjusting herself on her towel._

"_Good. They don't deserve your talent." Anna smiles._

"_How have you and Dana been? I'm pretty sure I saw you all googly eyed the other day during break when you were talking on the phone." Lily chuckles._

"_It's great. We're planning on moving in together soon. I can't wait. I just wish that some form of marriage between us would be ok. Maybe we should head to Vegas," she laughs. Anna nods._

"_Well, then our life could turn in to 'The Hangover,'" she chuckles. Lily laughs. _

"_That would be the best vacation ever. I'm calling in. We're doing that," she laughs, taking out her magazine and looking at the front page. She dramatically sighs and points to her cover. "And even though I'm dating a girl, look at the motherfucking body on JT! Jesus, that makes me weak!" Anna snickers and takes the magazine from her hands._

"_You like him way too much," she laughs, skimming through the pages filled with celebrity gossip. Lily shrugs her shoulders. _

"_I can't help it. He's just so hot!" And he's our age," she says knowingly. Anna rolls her eyes. _

"_We're taken, Lily," she chuckles, handing her the magazine. Lily laughs, her shoulders shaking._

"_Doesn't mean we can't stare at guys," she snickers, looking at more pictures. She glances up at Anna and thinks for a moment. "How are things with you and you-know-who?" she asks. Anna stares at her for a moment._

"_Voldemort?" she says shocked. Lily rolls her eyes and pushes her friends shoulder, causing her to laugh. "I'm just shitting you, Lily," she says._

"_You know who I'm talking about," she laughs. Anna sighs._

"_After two years? Still pretty pissed off. But I do love him. I talk with him almost every day. It just feels so weird not having him here with us."_

"_He made a stupid decision," Lily chuckles, taking a sip from her Pepsi. Anna nods._

"_I agree with that. But who knows? Maybe he'll suddenly show up at my doorstep or some shit like that. Wouldn't that be romantic?" she gushes. Lily raises an eyebrow._

"_You're talking about a Dixon here. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do something like that." _

"_He's a whole different person around me then he is around you, Lily," Anna smiles. Lily rolls her eyes again._

"_Whatever you say, Belle," she laughs, looking back out to the ocean._

Anna would give anything to relive that memory. But she couldn't. Lily was gone now. Dana probably was too.

When she was younger, she had wanted to live on the beach. To wake up and see the ocean at her fingertips. Ready to explore and swim in. She didn't need no swimming pool. She had THAT. Even though sometimes it would be freezing cold, she would still end up going in.

She scrubs hard on her tank in the river. She needed to get the blood stains out or she was going to lose her shit. She had gotten used to everything now, all the dirt and grime, but she still at least wanted clothes that didn't stink.

While scrubbing, her mind travels back to the little boy in the group. Hunter. Aria and Scarlett had found him. Anna had been observing the three and they already acted like siblings, always driving each other crazy. But Hunter also seemed like he didn't care. He was just happy to be with people.

Aria had told her how he had been alone and how he had somehow fixed a gun so no sound would come out. Anna was incredibly impressed, as was Daryl. This kid could do something that Anna knew none of them could do. And he was eight.

But he was also a sweetheart. He was always helping everyone, even though he didn't really know people that well yet. He really only talked to Scarlett, who was two years younger than him, Aria, and Anna and Daryl. He had even asked Daryl to show him how to use a crossbow, to which Anna started to snicker very quietly that day.

Daryl had told her earlier that if he wanted another kid he wanted it to be a boy. Someone he could teach how to hunt and really have those father/son bonding moments that he never really had when he was a kid. Anna never knew how much he wanted to switch his life around until that statement. She thought he already had, but she knew that in no way he was ever going to be like his father. She had assured him of that later that day.

Now, he actually had a kid who was following his every move, trying to be just like him. Anna had never seen a kid so fascinated by Daryl. Now, Hunter was practically his kid doppelganger. And it had only been a week. She wondered what he would do next that would be like him.

She finished up scrubbing and placed the tank next to her. From the distance she saw the leaves rustling in a bush and she automatically took out her knife, but there was a small part of her that wished it was some of the old people. But, of course, it wasn't.

It was just another damn walker.

She throws the knife, kills it, and goes back to the river to scrub up some more clothes. She takes out her other shirt and starts on that.

Then she thinks about the dog that the girls had brought back. It was a beagle, its name Pepper. It was adorable. It was always following Aria though. She had been the one who found it, so it was most loyal to her. One day, the dog surprised both her and Daryl by coming back with a rabbit in its mouth. It was a hunter dog.

And that just made there day right there and then.

No one was allergic, so they just decided to keep it right there and then. It was just so fucking adorable and Anna was a dog lover, so she wanted it around.

She starts to hum a song under her breath as she scrubs. Done. She had sang this to her boyfriend in freshman year of college when she broke up with him.

'_Mama always told me that I should place nice._

_She didn't know you when she gave me that advice._

_I'm through, with you. _

_You're one bridge I'd like to burn._

_Bottle up the ashes, smash the urn._

_I'm through, with you. La di da._

_I don't want be your 'just for fun.'_

_Don't want to be under your thumb._

_All I wanna be is DONE._

_DONE._

"I remember that song," she hears from behind her. Her head turns and she sees Daryl leaning against one of the trees. She hadn't even noticed he was there. He had been probably watching her. 'Hunters feet' she thought, chuckling slightly. "Sang that to your piece of shit boyfriend back in college."

"Yup. Kind of just popped up in my head. No clue why, though," she laughs, taking out the tank and laying it beside her. "Hey, how far away are we from camp?" she asks, laying them out. He comes to sit next to her.

"About a mile. Not that far. We could walk back within ten minutes," he says, picking up a stone and tossing it into the water.

"Do you think we'll ever find the rest of the group?" she asks, looking at him. He shrugs his shoulders, looking out at the river flowing down.

"I really don't have a clue, for once. They're everywhere, and we've only found three people. But maybe we'll find more." She nods.

"But you don't want to get my hopes up?" He nods, making her roll her eyes.

"Exactly." She sighs and brings her knees to her chest.

"I want to talk to you about Hunter," she says, chuckling slightly.

"Nice kid," he says nonchalantly. But she sees the corners of his mouth up in a small smile. She snorts.

"Nice? That kid fucking worships you. He follows your every move. Seems he wants to be just like you," she adds at the end. "Has a ring, right? Hunter the hunter. I could see that." He chuckles slightly and turns to her.

"What do ya wanna talk about?" he asks. She's silent for a second before taking a deep breath and making sure she had eye contact with him.

"What do you think about adopting him?" He looks surprised at her for a second.

"Adopting?" he asks curiously. She nods, a smile on her face.

"I mean, he already likes the girls, and follows you around like a dog to its master. He helps me with cleaning up the area and cooking the fish. And he's so sweet and nice. I mean, his parents were killed when all of this happened. He's had no one for the past year and now he has us. And he seems to really like it. What do you say?" she ends softly. "I don't want to do anything that you're not comfortable doing or anything like that," she adds on. "If you don't, I'll understand." He shakes his head at her, but it wasn't a 'no' shake.

"Adoption….sounds good," he replies, looking back out at the river. She chuckles and shakes her head at him.

"It's more than good. I see the huge grin on your face. You can't hide that shit," she laughs. He chuckles slightly, looking back at her. But behind the happiness, she could see a smidge of worry. She sighs and crawls over to him. Then, she gets up a little and positions herself over his lap and then straddles him. She could feel his heartbeat increase ever y second. Her arms go around his neck and she pulls him in for a deep and passionate kiss, to which he returns gratefully. When she pulls back she smiles at him. "You will be a great father, nothing like your old man. You'll be hundred times better. So I need you to stop worrying and start thinking of when you're really going to teach him how to use that crossbow of yours." He snickers and she chuckles a little, but pulls him in for another kiss. "Or we could just have some fun right now," she suggest playfully against his lips.

"I'm up for that," he breathes huskily, pulling her back to him. She laughs and kisses him again, knowing that no one from camp would hear.

* * *

The group decided to head out later that day to find a more secure place to stay. The area they had been in was ok, but it wasn't going to prevent them from being safe. They needed to keep the kids ok.

Right now, they were walking in the woods, taking out the occasional walker. Daryl and Anna were in the front, keeping a lookout for anything in front of them. Hunter was behind Daryl and Scarlett behind her mother, while Aria had Judy in her arms and Lizzie was next to her. Mika was behind both of them, And Tyreese was in the back.

"She's just so adorable," Lizzie coos to the baby, who had a small smile on her face. Aria nods.

"She's so cute," she chuckles, playing with the little baby's fingers. "Sometimes I wish I had one of my own," she laughs quietly, hoping her parents wouldn't hear. Oh, but they did.

"You're not getting one of those until you're thirty," Anna says to her daughter, making the whole group laugh. "No way in hell. Ain't letting you go down that path," she chuckles. Aria laughs.

"Not now, mom. The future. I want a little girl just like her. Someone I can dress up and play pretend with."

"What if she doesn't like that stuff?" Lizzie says. Aria laughs.

"What girl doesn't want to pretend to be a princess?"

"Your mama didn't," Daryl says. "She wanted to be Spiderman." Anna chuckles and nods her head.

"I didn't want to be Cinderella or any of those people. I wanted to be someone who could shoot webs and climb up buildings."

"But aren't you afraid of spiders, mommy?" Scarlett asks.

"That's what I asked her when she told me that," Daryl chuckles. Anna rolls her eyes, opening her mouth to fight back, but stops when she hears the rustling of the bushes in front of them. Anna points her gun at the bush, but out step two people. She didn't recognize them.

"Whoa, don't hurt us! We mean no harm!" a woman says, putting her hands up in the air to say they didn't. The man next to her did the same.

"We don't want to hurt you but we heard you earlier and heard you were looking for a place to stay?" the man says carefully. Anna lowers her gun and tells the others to do the same. When they do, she could viably see the man let out a shaky sigh of relief.

"You did, did you? And do you have a place?" They both nod profusely.

"It's protected like hel-heck," he says, referring to the word change in front of the little kids. "And very safe. It's a little college campus, but there were apartments there for the students and that's where people stay. Some in the residence halls."

"And we have plenty of food and medicine. Even a little rec center for the children to go too. We've been living there for a year. It's actually a really nice place, well, despite the fact that the dead are walking around," she ends, chuckling slightly.

Anna takes in their appearance. The man had dark blonde hair and somewhat muscley arms, but nothing compared to Daryl. He had blue eyes and wore some jeans and a white t-shirt. The woman had black hair that was slightly curly, and brown eyes. She looked to be Puerto Rican, just like Anna. They seemed harmless, only a gun in their hands.

She turns to Daryl. She could see he was mentally asking her 'can we trust them?' She thinks for a second, then shrugs her shoulders slightly, saying 'what more do we have to go on?'

"I'm Anna," she says, introducing herself. "The man in the back is Tyreese. That's Lizzie and Mika. They're sisters. These are my daughters, Aria and Scarlett, Hunter is right there, and this is Daryl, my husband," she says, saying all the names. She had never said that word out loud, but it sounded really good to her.

The two young people smile at them. "I'm Drake," he says, shaking her hand. "And this is my girlfriend, Layla." She smiles at them.

"Nice to meet you," she says. Anna smiles back.

"So do you have a car or something?" The two smile.

"A whole truck. It'll be easy to get you back. Just follow us and we'll lead you to it." Anna nods and tells the rest to follow them. A few of them stepped in front and Daryl grabs her hand.

"Ya know what ya are doing, right?" She nods.

"We'll be fine. Plus, they only have a gun. We have you. They're no match."

* * *

Anna stares outside the window of the apartment they had given them. The campus wasn't small. It was huge. And it seemed almost untouched by the world. They must have had REALLY good security there.

She hadn't met the rest of the group yet, but Anna could tell that it was just a bunch of sweethearts. They didn't seem to mean no harm at all.

The apartment was nice too. It was on the fifth floor, the highest floor, and it had three bedrooms. The two sisters could share one, Hunter could have his own, and Daryl and Anna had one to their self.

She chuckles and goes to the small kitchen. It was just perfect. She hadn't seen a real kitchen like this in ages. She had wished that she could see one and now she did.

Maybe the campus would be good for them.

The kids were meeting the other kids in the rec center, and Daryl was out with Drake talking about the security there. Anna had stayed behind. Now, all she wanted to do was go outside.

She grabbed her jacket and put it on, but not before blowing out the small candle that was there. ITt had been scented, and now the apartment smelled like cinnamon. She missed those little things like these every once a while.

She goes to the door and opens it, intending to run down the hall to the stairs, but knocks right into two people. She rubs her head against the wall, it painfully hurting now.

"Oh, I'm sor-Anna?!" she hears. She looks up through rubbing her head and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Maggie and Joey. Alive.

"OH MY GOD, YOU'RE OK!" she yells, hugging both of them, to which they laugh and hug her back.

"I was so worried about you," Maggie says.

"Me too," Joey adds in. Anna shakes her head.

"I don't care. As long as you're ok, I'm fine," she says softly. She felt like crying! She had found two of the people that she loved the most.

They were ok.

They were alive.

**DONE! Lol, so that song I put earlier, I have recently fallen in love with that song because it kind of explains my life right now. I had a messy break up the other day and I sang this the whole entire day. It's kind of my anthem now XD But I'm surviving by writing these two stories. So they've found a safe haven, Hunter's gonna be their kid soon enough, and Maggie and Joey are ok. I wanted them to stay alive so much. I became attached to them while writing the story. But don't worry. Just because they have this place doesn't mean there's going to be less action or drama. I can't wait to write the rest. And in my other story, there is also a campus. I just think a college campus would be a good place to survive during an apocalypse because those are basically towns. And new people are introduced! Let's see what they look like in my head. These are my picks, so don't judge.**

Drake: _Tom Felton_

Layla: _Vanessa Hudgens._

**My picks. And you don't have to picture them as that. I just do. XD REVIEWS HELP THE STORY SO PLEASE…REVIEW! Hope you enjoyed!**


	24. You're Ok

**Thank you for the reviews I have gotten and it made me happy to finally see some in my inbox! I'm glad to know that some people are reading the notes and leaving me there opinions. So today and tomorrow I'll probably be updating, but in Sunday there probably won't be a chapter because it's superbowl Sunday and my family are huge football fans so that is like a whole day affair and we do nothing but eat and watch football and commercials, so I'll try, but it might be hard to do. Then again, I'm me. And I've gotten chapters up almost every day during midterms week, so who knows?**

**So now the group is with this new group in a college, and they finally seemed to have found a safe haven from everything. But there are still people out there that are dangers, people that they still need to find, and new surprises that could be good and bad. Let get on with the show.**

* * *

It had been a two weeks since the group had arrived at the college. Anna had found a place among the group at the college. She would do some woman work, such as cleaning and cooking, but her real place was being out in the forest. She would go and hunt with the others, mostly stay with Daryl of course. Half the time they went alone because they preferred it to be that way.

Anna would also stay up near the fences and make sure no walkers got in. Even in the short time span she realized that this place was the best for them in a while. It was better than the prison. One, it had power. Two, it had a working medical center. And three, it had _hot water. _You can't pass that up.

The kids, on the other hand, were always in the rec center with the others. Scarlett had found a little girl her age that shared her love for SpongeBob just like her and Hunter did. Anna would fine them playing whenever she went down there to pick up food for the apartment or to skin something she got in the forest.

Hunter had made himself useful with the boys. Since they had a working red center, he would usually be in the game room that they had got working. He would be playing all sorts of games, whether it was video games, board games, or just playing football. He loved being with boys his age that he could play with. But that didn't stop him from following Daryl around like a dog.

Then there was Aria. Anna had noticed that she and Lizzie had developed a small friendship. She would see the two talk all the time. Lizzie would help Aria with Judy and both would laugh at stuff they told each other. But Anna had also seen that Aria was kind of sad. Whenever she was alone she wouldn't even look happy at all. She would just gaze out the window or at the ground. Anna had walked over to her one day and found out exactly what she was sad about.

"Aria, can I talk to you for a moment?" Anna asks her daughter. Aria looks up and nods, giving the baby to Lizzie and walking over to her mother, her hands in her sweatshirt pockets.

"Yes?" she replies. Anna pulls her over to the side and starts to speak quietly.

"Why have you seemed so down lately?" Aria looks at her confused.

"I'm always laughing he-"

"When you're alone, you never seem to want to talk to anyone. You always just look down at the ground and look out the window. Why are you so sad?" Aria looks down, a sullen look on her face. "Aria, what's wrong?" her mother asks softly.

"I just-" she starts, then sighs and continues. "I just want to see some of the old people from the prison. I can't sleep well at night knowing that some of the people I've come to care about are still out there and facing the world when we're basically in paradise right now," she finishes, a few tears slipping down her face, but she wipes them away quickly. Anna looks closer.

"You miss Carl, don't you?" Anna asks knowingly. Her daughter looks up surprised but nods, sighing.

"Yeah, I do," she concludes pathetically. Anna chuckles and places her hand on her daughters shoulder, causing her to look up.

"I'm sure they're fine right now and surviving. And we will find them soon. Judith is there family, and I'm sure when they find out how well you've been taking care of her, they'll be mighty grateful. Might even get a kiss on the cheek from a certain younger Grimes." Aria glares at her mom, causing her to laugh. "Now go, you got a kid to feed," Anna says, hearing the babies cry. Aria nods and takes off.

Anna sighs and shakes her head. She didn't know if they were still out there, but they would find them. Somehow.

There was always a way.

Anna over the past weeks had also become closer with certain members of the group while she would work.

There was Layla, the woman who was with Drake when they brought them back to the campus. She had found out that Layla had been going to NYU and was visiting down south when shit hit the fan. She had found Drake at the group heading towards Atlanta and the two automatically clicked. They had been together ever since and surviving.

Sooner or later they found the rest of the group that was in the group. They had been going from house to house for three months and then found the campus. Slowly, they started to build a life there, and accept more people. Engineers, doctors, nurses, hunters, mechanics, anyone that had a use in the world was at the college.

They had fixed it up and made it look good. Now they had working food halls, rec centor, medical center, residence halls and apartments people lived in. They had truly turned it into a safe place that would be good.

The two youngsters lived together in one of the apartments, and Anna had asked since they had been together for a year was any specific question going to pop into the world.

"So…you've been together for more than a year and a half….had he 'popped the question' yet?" Anna asks one day as they were cleaning the kitchen they prepared the food in. Layla laughs.

"No, not yet, but I feel like he's giving hints every day that he might. But having a wedding in this world would be hard. There's not really anywhere to get a dress or a ring." Anna chuckles.

"Didn't stop Daryl," she says. Layla looks at her, basically telling her to go on. "We didn't have a wedding or anything. He just asked me one day to be his wife in his own Dixon way and I said yes. And we've been like this ever since." Layla rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, but you tow had been friends since you were ten. He helped you raise a kid, moved in as your roommate, comforted you when you almost got touched again, THEN had a KID together, then were together for three years-" Anna puts up her hand to stop her and Layla chuckles. "He just felt comfortable doing that because he knows you. I don't know about Drake though. By the way, Scarlett looks exactly like you two. It's crazy." Anna chuckles.

"Yeah, she does. But I'm sure Drake is going to ask. From the looks I've seen him give you, he's head over heels in love. So don't be surprised if you hear wedding bells in the future." Layla laughs and shakes her head.

"Whatever you say Anna," she snickers, scrubbing down the tabletop.

Anna had also been around Maggie more often as well as Joey. She noticed that those two got along very well, shared the same interests. And they were also very good at annoying the hell out of Anna. But she had to say that she loved them like they were her own siblings.

Anna had asked what had happened to Glenn, and Maggie simply replied she didn't know. She didn't have a clue to where he was. She just hoped that she would find him.

And then she started to cry.

Anna was there to comfort her. She felt the pain that she felt. She didn't know what she would do if Daryl wasn't by her throughout this. She already nearly lost her mind because she couldn't find her kids those first few days. She wanted to find Glenn and Rick and Carl and everyone.

But she knew she couldn't find everyone.

Now she was getting ready to go out with Layla to the local department store to pick up some supplies, and she was going out on a little secret mission of her own. She wasn't worried, well, at lest she didn't show it.

Her period had been late.

So she was freaking out just a little.

But she would handle this like she did with Scarlett. With dignity and hopefully now freaking out like she did with Aria. She would be an adult and be ok if she really was what she thought she was.

Jesus she would have four kids.

Hunter was now officially part of the family. They had taken him in a while ago, and he was very grateful. His words were exactly 'so I'll have a mommy and daddy who'll love me?' Which had almost made Anna cry.

There was something about this kids past. Something happened and she had to find out exactly. This kid was her responsibility now, her son. She needed to know.

But now was not the time to be doing that. She needed to get the food and supplies, and then get her test. She needed to find out.

"Layla, hand me the wrench, I gotta fix this quickly," Anna says, pointing to the car. Layla nods and throws the wrench that Anna quickly catches. She tightens up one of the bolts in the engines and nods. "Start up the car. Let's see if it works." She turns the key and the engine burst to life, causing a grin to spread across Anna's face.

"It's working!" Layla says, stepping out. "I'm gonna go say a quick goodbye to Drake, ok? I'll be back in a minute." Anna nods and watches her run off to him. 'Oh, I remember when I did that. Still do,' she thinks, chuckling to herself. She turns back to the car to head in but not before she surprised by the man behind her.

She jumps practically five feet in the air and holds a hand to her heart, glaring at the person. "Don't fucking do that, Daryl!" she growls. He chuckles and places a kiss on her lips.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself with that." She rolls her eyes and pulls back.

"Whatever you say, redneck," she mumbles, going to the car. But he snakes his arm around her waist and pulls her back to him. She screams gleefully as he turns her around and places her up against the hood of the car, kissing her deeply. She replies just as deep. When he pulls back, he palces his forehead against hers.

"Ya better get your ass back here safe," he says, kissing her again.

"Oh trust me, I will. Nothing can keep me away," she says when she pulls back. "God, that sounded cheesy," she laughs. He shrugs his shoulders.

"As long as you're ok I don't care if life turns into the Notebook. I just want ya ok." She burst out laughing, shaking her head.

"You would care if it turned into that. You hated that movie!" He rolls his eyes.

"You're missing the point, woman," he growls, taking her lips again. She chuckles and pulls back.

"I get it. Don't worry. I'll be fine. Layla's coming back, so just calm yourself and gently let me off the hood." He snickers and takes her off while Layla jos up to them.

"Daryl, Drake wants to head out to get another deer. The one we have is slowly going. Would you be ok heading out?" Daryl nods.

"I'm good with that, just keep her safe," he says to Layla while pointing and Anna and walking towards the main building. Anna rolls her eyes and watches him go. Layla turns to Anna and smiles.

"He must really love you, huh?" she says. Anna nods.

"Yeah, he does." 'And he will be there if the worst comes.' She walks to the car. "Let's get out of here and get that supplies."

* * *

Daryl had gone off into the woods with Drake later that day. To be true, the kid was a good hunter, but half the time he was never quiet. He always talked and talked and talked when they went out. Daryl never liked to talk when he was out hunting. He preferred the quiet, needed quiet. The only person he ever talked to when he was out hunting was Anna, and that's because he just couldn't not talk to her.

But in the end, they usually ended up bringing a deer back to the campus. Even if the kid was annoying when they went out.

"Hey Daryl? Can I ask you something?" Drake asks him later that day. Daryl glances and him and nods. Drake takes a deep breath and looks down at the ground for a second, then look back up. "How did you ask Anna to marry you?"

Daryl looks at him surprised, but realized the kid was asking for advice.

"I didn't really ask her like how ya see in movies or books. I kind of just asked her in my own way and she said yeah. It wasn't all romantic and shit." Drake nods and looks out in front of him.

"Were you nervous or anything?" he asks. Daryl looks down for a moment and nods slightly.

"Kid, I made a stupid decision a few years ago, and to tell the truth I was wonderin' if she would say yes or not. So my nerves were a little on high. But it was worth it," he finishes. He looks at him. "Why? Are ya going to ask Layla?" Drake bites his bottom lip and nods.

"Yeah, I am. Man, I've been with her for almost a year and half now, and I've never been more happier in my life. And I'm positive I want to spend the rest of my life. But my nerves are practically as nervous as a race horse in its first race. They're all over the place. And there's this small part of me that feels like she might say no but then there's this part of me that thinks she might say yes but then there's also another part that thinks should I ask and save the humiliation or-"

"Ok, slow down Road Runner," Daryl says, stopping him from walking by placing a hand out in front of him. Drake realized he had been pacing faster and faster every second. He looks at Daryl. "First, calm the fuck down. Your screaming will scare off every piece of meat within' a mile." Drake looks down embarrassed. "Second, just ask her and get it over with. This world, ya don't have time for thinkin'. Just do it and get it over with. If she says yes, she says yes. She says no, you'll work it out. But ya don't know if ya and her will get a tomorrow, so just go and ask. And I'm pretty sure she'll say yes. I see the way that woman looks at ya."

"You have?" Drake asks, glancing up. Daryl nods.

"Yeah, and the attractions mutual. So just shut the fuck up and let's get some meat," he ends, pushing Drake further in front. The younger man chuckles and nods, walking forward, but turns his head towards him.

"Thanks, man," he says. Daryl nods.

"No problem," he replies. Drake looks forward.

"But I think there's something you should know as well," Drake says, stopping in his tracks. Daryl looks at him.

"What?"

"Well, earlier today I heard Layla and Anna talking in the rec center and she told her something I think you should know. She was going to tell you when she got back from the raid but I think you shoul-"

"Drake, spit it out," Daryl says, crossing his arms. Drake looks down, rubbing the back of his neck.

"She said that she might be pregnant." Daryl's eye widen and he nearly drops his crossbow onto the ground. Anna might be _pregnant?_

"Are ya sure that's what she said?" he asks, his eyes narrowed. While on the inside he was freaking out. Drake nods.

"She said that while she was out today she was going to get a test to make sure. But she wanted to make sure she was before she told you. But I guess I beat her to it." Daryl nods and looks down. How would they keep it safe? Jesus, another kid.

"Thanks for telling me," he says quietly, looking down. Drake walks up to him.

"Hey, you're great with the kids you already have, and I've seen you with Judith. If she is pregnant, I'm sure the baby and she will be fine." Daryl nods, looking back up.

"I'm good…just freaked me out for a second." He straightens himself out. "Let's get the food. Gotta get back to the people." Drake nods and walks forward.

"You'll be fine, man. So calm the fuck down," he teases, using Daryl's words. Daryl glares at him and pushes his shoulder.

"Just get going asshole," Daryl says, walking through the forest. Drake chuckles and follows him. 'Oh lord, another,' Daryl thinks. 'This will be interesting.'

* * *

Scarlett was in the rec center with Hunter later that day and both of them were using building blocks. When Scarlett had been told that Hunter would be her brother, she was ok with it. The boy was really nice and played with her when they were in their apartment. But the one thing she hadn't shown him was her powers.

"Hey Hunter, want me to show you something?" Scarlett asks. Hunter looks over from where he was building and shrugs.

"Sure," he says. She crawls over his side and points her hands at the blocks. Around it, pieces of rock started to build itself on top of the blocks, creating a taller building. Hunter looks on in amazement. She turns to him. "How can you do that?" he asks amazed. She shrugs.

"I was born with it. Mommy and Aria have powers too." Hunter raises an eyebrow.

"You all have powers?" he asks. She nods. "What about Daddy?" Scarlett shakes her head.

"He doesn't have any, but he's like superman to me, though. His power is being strong. I couldn't life the crossbow if I tried." He smiles and looks at her hands.

"So you can control the earth? Can the others do that?" She shakes her head.

"No. Aria can control ice, and mommy can control fire. They're awesome. And guess what else I can do!" Hunter leans in closer.

"What?" he asks. She leans over and whispers in his ear.

"I can see the dead and talk to them." He pulls back suddenly and looks at her with wide eyes again. She giggles and goes back to her blocks.

"REALLY?" he asks. She nods.

"I can see my aunt Lily who was killed a while ago. She talks to me every once and a while. I also had a friend named Elsa that's 270 years old! She has the same powers as Aria!" Hunter leans back against the wall.

"Is she here right now?" A soft gust of wind blow through the area and Scarlett smiles.

"That was her. She's always around. She's been my best friend for the past few months and helped me with my powers. Also with Aria's powers. She's been doing really well." Hunter nods.

"I wonder if I'll end up getting powers." Scarlett shrugs.

"You never know. Maybe. Somehow. But right now all I want to do is continue building-Aria! Where are you going?" she asks her sister who was currently heading out the door. Aria turns to her two siblings and sighs.

"I'm just heading out into the forest for a few minutes. I think I saw something and I want to check it out." Scarlett nods.

"Where's Judy?"

"With Lizzie," she replies.

"Do you have your gun?" Hunter asks. Aria nods.

"Got gun and knives. I'll be fine, guys. Just go back to building." Both nod and turn back while Aria goes outside the building and takes a deep breath of fresh air.

Time to head to the forest.

* * *

Aria had always been a green girl. She loved the color green and the color blue. Most of her wardrobe back in NYC had been green and blue. She loved to walk around in Central Park without her shoes on and just listen to the sounds in the trees. Hearing the kids play. Maybe climbing on the rocks with a bunch of her old friend. She missed doing that.

She wondered if there were any rocks to climb in this forest. She had been wondering for the past half hour, and she was pretty sure she was at least a mile away from the prison. She needed to get away for a while and let out some steam.

She remembered how her mother had always sang when she was angry, so Aria had left to let out a few of her own notes. Her memories had come back from the beginning of freshman year. She had made the horrible mistake of dating a bad guy. And let's just say whenever her memories popped up, she had to let out some anger.

'_I left a note, on my bedpost_

_Said not to repeat, yesterdays mistake._

_What I tend to do, when it comes to you,_

_I see only the good, selective memory.'_

She walks forward and sees something in the distance. She walks forward slightly, still singing quietly.

'_Oh, ohohohoh, ohohohoh,_

_I can't remember to forget you._

_Ohohohoh, ohohohoh._

_I keep forgetting I should let you go._

_But when you look at me, the only memory,_

_Is us kissing in the moonlight. _

_Oh, ohohohoh, ohohohoh,_

_I can't remember to forget you.'_

She had found a giant rock. She smiles and starts to climb. She did not think this would be here, but it was. She climbs higher and higher until she reaches the top, still humming her song under her breath. When she sees how much she can see from up there, she laughs. It was just like the rock in Central Park. She knew where she would be going for now on during the day.

She sits down on the rock and takes a deep breath, starting to listen to the sounds around her. She closes her eyes and places her hands on the rock, leaning a little closer to the edge to hear a bit better. It was so peaceful.

Until she heard her name being called.

"Aria?!" she hears from behind her. She nearly jumps off the cliff and looks around her, her eyes narrowing in the sunlight shining down on her. But when she sees who's there, she nearly cries in joy and jumps up and down in glee.

It was Carl.

"Jesus, you're ok!" she yells, her arms going around him. She feels him laugh and his arms go around her. All the stress she had been having seemed to be let out with that one hug that she just got. She pulls back and smiles. "My God, you're ok-wait, where is your dad?" she says, peeking around him.

"Still trying to climb the rock," he says, chuckling a little. "Where have you been? We've been looking for everyone for the past two weeks." Aria smiles wider.

"We've been staying at this campus that's a mile back. It has food and electricity and medicine and-oh, we have Judith! My mom and I have been taking care of her for the past few weeks. She's healthy and-oh you have to come back!"

"Judith?!" she hears from behind Carl. She looks around and see's Rick. He looked like a mess. How much had these two been through.

"Yes!" she says, walking up to him. "She's ok, Rick. She's alive! And so are my parents and Lizzie and Mika and Tyreese. Maggie and Joey are ok! There are so many people there. God, we had been looking for you for the past few weeks!" She looks back to Carl and takes a deep breath, happy she had finally found them. "We have to go, now!" she says, taking their hands and staring to go down the rock.

"I just got up here," Rick chuckles. Aria turns to him amused.

"Do you want to see your daughter or not, Grimes?" she chuckles. He laughs and gestures his hand to the open forest in front of them. Laughing, she pulls them alone near the way she had come from. Carl comes a little closer to her and leans in to whisper something.

"Have you really been taking care of Judith for the past few weeks," he whispers. She nods, smiling at him.

"And she's healthy. I can't wait for you to see her."

"My dad has been going crazy over the fact that she could have been dead, and now we know she's alive." He squeezes her hand thankfully. "Thank you," he says, smiling a rare grin at her. She smiles back.

"You're welcome, but now we have to go. Oh this is going to be great!"

**Rick and Carl are back in the picture! So this chapter took me longer but I have to say I'm happy how it turned out. Again, thanks to the few people who read the note and reviewed : ) I'm quite grateful for that. So they have made a home at the campus, and both of them had been making friend, Anna has one in Layla, and Daryl kind of has one in Drake. Now we have the idea of Anna being pregnant. This should be interesting.**

**And now Carl is back! I plan to have more moments between them : ) Just like the one in this. I feel like Carl had like no one his age on the show that he can get along with, so Aria is that solution to that. And now Hunter knows about the powers. And he doesn't seem fazed. Maybe his life hasn't been that normal either….**

**Like or hate? Lol Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Review!**


	25. Chat with Lily

**Thanks for reading my last chapter and for the new followers and reviews I got! It really means a lot to me as a writer and makes me motivated to keep writing the story. To be true, I actually have no clue when this story is going to end. I have plenty of ideas to keep it going, and I have a clue on how I want it to end, I just have no clue exactly when. XD So I'm gonna keep writing until I find it very concluded. But that might not be for a while XD and WALKING DEAD BACK IN 8 DAYS. Can't wait. **

**And I've recently been watching a lot of anime movies lately because of my friend. They're actually not that bad as I thought that they were XD Just wanted to share that. Watching Spirited Away tonight with my friends. Is it good if anyone's seen it? Lol **

**So we have a whole new problem in the mix now. Anna might be pregnant, so this will add onto more drama in her life in the apocalypse. That's what you get for not using protection…XD And now the Grimes family is back in the picture. Happy to have them back in the story.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

When the two arrive back at the campus, Anna practically runs to the apartment, not even thinking about anything else but the test she got. She runs up the stairs, through the door, and to the bathroom, locking it behind her.

She takes it out of the box and sighs. She had gotten herself into this. Time to see if this was really what she thought was happening to her.

She sits on the toilet and waits, her heart racing a mile a second. When she finishes, she comes back up, flushes the toilet, and braces for the impact of what she was about to see. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and looks at the test. Her hand goes flying to her mouth.

Positive.

Well, she was fucked.

She sits down on toilet cover, knowing that her legs couldn't take the pressure of her body. If she was to stay up, she would surely fall down and faint. Her mind raced back and forth to what she had been told about Lori and her baby. God, what if that happened to her?

Jesus, she was pregnant.

There was a living, human being inside her growing as she sat on the toilet. She didn't even know how long it had been since this happened. She just knew something was off with her body and this was it. This was the off.

She felt a wave of nausea hit her.

She opens up the seat and all the containments of her stomach poured out into the water. When she finishes, she flushes the toilet pathetically and leans against the wall, her head against the stone cold structure. Her mind was dizzy.

How would she keep a baby alive? I mean, she had kept Judith ok and had been keeping her ok since they found her, but this was a newborn baby in a world where the dead walked. She felt like she was going to explode and everything was going to end.

And that's when she passed out.

* * *

Aria was in the main center with her little sister and brother. When her mother had told her that they were adopting Hunter, she was all for it. She felt like the kid needed a new home and that they could provide it. Same with the dog they found.

Speaking of the dog, it came running into the building a moment later and waddled up to Aria, it's paws going on her leg, trying to reach up and lick her face. She laughs and pets its head.

"Hey, Pepper," she says quietly, brushing the soft fur. "Where have you been? Out in the woods?" she asks. The dog simply wags its tail and pants, its drool leaking onto her pants. Aria cringes and pushes the dog softly off of her. "And now my pants are ruined," she mumbles, looking back at her sister.

She smiles at her and Hunters playtime. Even though he was two years old then her and a boy, he usually was around her the most. They seemed like they would end up being really close in the future. Aria would always see them down at the center play blocks almost every day with each other or playing a board game.

Scarlett had told her that she told Hunter about her powers and Aria was ok with it. He had to be told sooner or later. They couldn't just hide it from him.

And he seemed ok with it.

Which was something that confused Aria a little. But she thought oh well, at least he doesn't think they're weird witches or something like that.

She hears the door open from behind her and she looks around. She sees Carl come in and look around the room for a second before his eyes landed on her. She smiles at him and waves her hand over, telling him to come sit near her.

When he sits down, his eyes settle on the little boy playing with Scarlett. "Who's that?" he asks. She smiles.

"That would be Hunter, our new brother." He raises an eyebrow.

"Brother?" he asks surprised. She laughs, nodding her head.

"Scarlett and I found him when we were alone without our parents. His parents died when all of this happened and he has been alone ever since. But I swear to you, he's a fucking genius. He learned how to remove the thing that makes the sound a gun makes when you shoot. So now he can shoot the gun as many times as he wants without attracting any attention from any walkers or anything. It amazed me the first time he showed me. He's really good." He looks impressed at the kid.

"How old is he?" he asks. Aria shakes her head.

"Only eight!" she replies, laughing slightly. He nods his head, impressed by what he could do.

"How he figured out to do that, I have no clue," he concludes. She chuckles, looking back to the two little kids.

"Yeah, neither do I. But when we found him he was just so lonely and we felt bad, so we took him in and kept him. He's already a minion to Daryl. Follows his every move like a dog to its master. Already won my mothers heart. I just can't get over how smart he is though. What kid can do that?" she ends, shaking her head. "I mean, come on. That's pretty impressive that a little kid can take out a piece of a gun and put it back together." He nods.

"It's really impressive. My dad doesn't even know how to do that," he ends, chuckling slightly when he's finished.

"Have you seen Judy yet?" she asks. He nods, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, we have. Dad's so blessed that she's ok. We really are grateful that you took care of her for the past few weeks. He's been in a really bad place since the prison and now he finally found some sort of light in this place, with his daughter alive and all the security here. It seems even better then the prison." Aria laughs.

"That's because it is! There's power here. Any place that has power is better in my book then the prison. Plus, there's a giant football field and track that the kids can play on and-it's just great! I haven't been this happy about finding a place since the prison." He nods.

"It's definitely better. A lot more safer." She nods and looks to where some of the group was gathered around the table.

"Have you met anyone since you got here? Or reunited with someone?" Carl nods.

"I met Layla and Drake, and it's clear that those two are plain as day in love," he comments. Aria laughs, nodding.

"Yeah, those two are love birds. But it's nice to find someone in this world. I'm happy they found each other. What about Maggie and the rest?" He nods.

"We met Maggie and Joey when we first got out of the apartment they gave us. Then we saw Daryl come back through the woods and that was a reunion," he said, chuckling slightly. "That's when I met Drake. Then I saw Layla and Anna get back but Anna rang to your apartment and didn't even see me." Aria raises an eyebrow.

"My mom ran to our place?" she asks confused. Carl nods.

"Yeah, she did. But that's how I met Layla. And she seems nice. I bit ditsy, but nice." Aria snorts, then starts to laugh at the comment, causing him to laugh as well.

"Very true!" she replies. All of a sudden, she hears running footsteps behind her and look to see Drake coming towards them with a panicked look on his face. "Drake, what's wrong?" Aria asks, getting up. He whispers something in her ear and her eyes widen. When he pulls back, she nods at him. He nods back at her and runs out of the building. She grabs her bag and sighs. Carl gets up.

"What's happening?" he asks. She turns to him.

"Can you keep an eye on them for a while?" she asks. He nods. "My mom's in the infirmary."

* * *

You know how when you die you see a white light? Or some sort of person from your past who passed away at the end of the tunnel? Someone there to greet you and welcome you to the afterlife? Well, that wasn't exactly what Anna saw.

She knew she wasn't dead. She knew she wasn't there, at least yet. She was stuck in between life and death. She had no clue how she passed out. She know she didn't get bit when she was out or any time she was out. But all she knew was that she was there.

The only person she did see was Lily. She was there as well. Anna moves her legs and walks up to her. "Lily?" she asks, amazed. Lily smiles at her.

"Hi, Bella," she says, putting a hand on her shoulder. Anna sighs happily but looks around.

"Where am I? Am I going to die?" she says wordily. Lily holds her arm.

"Calm down, Anna," she says, brining her friends eye's back to her. Anna stares at her brown curls for a moment. They weren't the dark brown they had used to be, but was now light brown. She was wearing a white tank top with white shorts. And she had on white converse. Anna cringes.

"You're too bright," Anna says, backing away slightly. Lily laughs.

"This is what you get for being a guardian angel." Anna's eyes widen and Lily laughs. "Yes Anna, I'm your guardian angel. I've been that way for a while. And no, you are not going to die. I'm here to have a nice little chat with you." All of a sudden abench pops up out of nowhere and she leads Anna to it. "Sit, I have to talk to you about the baby."

"That baby?" she says, surprised. "How-"

"Guardian angel, remember?" she says, pointing to herself. Anna rolls her eyes and sits down.

"Ok, what about the baby?" Lily takes her hands.

"The reason why you are here is because I needed to talk to you. You passed out from stress and dehydration, and this just added onto the pile. But I need you to stop worrying about it and start being happy, or else this will kill you. You're having another child! Not to mention with hot stuff!" she chuckles. Anna glares at her but sighs.

"How am I not going to be worried? What if I die while giving birth? What if the baby dies? I can't handle all of this!" Lily snickers and squeezes her friends hands.

"The baby will be ok. And so will you. I can see its future perfectly, and I can tell that it will be living a good life. But for now you just need to calm down and let nature take its course, ok? Because I don't want to see you up here until you're withering old and barely able to walk! Then again, this is you we're talking about. We couldn't keep you down if we tried." Anna laughs, nodding.

"I'll calm down," she says. "Can you tell me what it'll be?" Lily shakes her head,

"That's the one thing I can't tell you, sorry! But I can tell you will be fine. So stop worrying." Anna nods. "You gotta go back now, though. I'll be watching over you, maybe even during those heated-"

"Lily, you better not do that," Anna growls to her friend. Lily chuckles and hugs her friend. "I miss you," she finally says. Lily nods.

"I miss you too. But I'm always there. Just look up at the moon and you'll see me." Anna raises an eyebrow.

"That is the most cheesiest thing I have hear that has ever come out of your mouth, and you're dead now!" Anna says. Lily laughs.

"But you love me though!" She places her hand on Anna's shoulder. "You'll be ok," she says, and with a zap, she was gone, and Anna seemed to be pushed back into reality.

* * *

Her eyes open to bright light all around her. She squints as she looks down exactly where she was. She was in a hospital bed, some machines hooked up to her. She sighs and leans up slightly, glancing outside the window.

The moon was shining brighter then Anna had ever seen in her life.

She smiles. "Thanks, Lily," she says, leaning back against her pillow. She looks to her side and sees some food laid out for her. They must have put it there just in case she woke up. And by the looks of it, it was deer.

Daryl and Drake had come back.

Had he been the one that brought her to the infirmary? This would be fun.

She takes the plate and begins to eat while occasionally looking outside at the moon. That wasn't a dream. She had actually been in the afterlife for a small amount of time to talk with Lily. She could still feel her touch on her shoulder. Her arms around her. The feel of her hands on hers. And the very , very bright clothes she had been wearing. She always wanted to be in style.

Anna chuckles and places the plate down, taking a sip of the water. But doing so almost caused her to choke, because the door burst open a second later, surprising the hell out of her. And when she saw who was there, she was more surprised than anything.

"Rick?" she says amazed. He smiles at her.

"You're up," he says, coming over to her. She smiles at him.

"When did you get here?" she asks looking at his face. There were still cuts and bruises from the battle at the prison. She felt her heart pain a little when she thought back to that.

"Aria found Carl and I in the woods and brought us back. When Daryl came back from his hunt he came back to his place and found you passed out on the bathroom floor. Let's just say he's been a little on edge," he says, looking down at his arm. She looks down and she smiles a little. Something told her that Rick had gotten in Daryl's way during the past few hours. There was a fresh bruise that looked like hand prints.

"How long have I been out?" she asks. He looks grimly up at her.

"Four days," he replies. Her eyes widen.

"Four DAYS?" she asks back, confused. That talk with Lily had felt like four minutes! Did time really go by that fast in the afterlife? "Was I really out that long?" Rick nods.

"Yeah. Some didn't think you were gonna come back because you showed no signs at all. But here we are," he says. She nods.

"Here we are," she whispers. "What about my kids?"

"Aria's been taking care of Scarlett and Hunter for the past few days because Daryl's been off the charts worried about you. So she stepped in as surrogate mother. And by the way, Hunter's a genius," he compliments. Anna chuckles.

"Yeah he is," she agrees. "He really is. I can't believe I've been out for that long. God it felt like four minutes where I was." His brow furrows.

"Where you were?" She nods.

"I was with my friend Lily! She talked to me about what happened and it felt like I was only four minutes. She did not mention the past where I've been passed out for four days. God almighty, this is too much," she says, taking another sip of her water.

"I think everyone's been on edge around here. Layla was freaking out the other day with MAggie. It seems you've made a huge impact on everyone here. Everyone seems to like you." She chuckles.

"Well, I am likeable," she laughs, shaking her head. "Where is everyone now?" she asks. Rick points in the direction of the lobby.

"The kids and Daryl are down the hall, and something tells me he's going to come and get me out of here soon. Layla is in the main area with Maggie and Joey. All three of them are vacant. A lot of people thought you were a goner," he says. "Including your kids. But damn are they strong. Not one tear out of them." Anna smiles.

"I taught them well then. And I'm alive and well. Tell everyone that," she chuckles, taking another sip of water. She wasn't gonna get dehydrated again.

"You're ok!" someone says from the door. She sees Maggie, Layla, and Joey all there, and running over to her.

"I thought you said they were in the main area!" Anna says to Rick. He shrugs his shoulders.

"I guess they came over here. Good to see you're ok. I'll go tell Daryl before he murders me," he chuckles, stepping out the door. Maggie and Layla hug her.

"Don't ever do that again!" Maggie says when she pulls back.

"You had us worried sick!" Layla says as well. Anna laughs.

"I can't promise I won't pass out, but I'm ok and alive."

"We seriously thought you were going to die, Anna, " Joey says, sitting down next to her on the bed. "We thought you wouldn't be here anymore. You didn't show any signs of anything. You just didn't seem alive. But now you are." Anna smiles at him.

"I am. And I'm so happy to see you guys!" she says, hugging all three of them. They all share a laugh.

"You should have seen Daryl the past few days!" Maggie says, looking at Layla. The other girl nods, a smile on her face.

"Shit, I've never seen someone so worried. Literally, if you got in his way, there would be a beat down happening somewhere. He just didn't want to talk to anyone."

"Rick made that mistake," Joey mumbles. Anna chuckles.

"I saw the damage on his arm," she laughs. She turns to the two girls. "Hey do you mind if I talk to Joey alone for a second?" The two nod and smile at her one more time before leaving the room, closing the door behind them.

"What's up?" he asks. She looks at him seriously.

"Joey, I saw Lily!" she whispers. He looks at her wide eyed.

"Really?" he asks. She nods.

"She talked to me and told me everything's going to be fine. She's my guardian angel! And God the stuff she was wearing was all white! Everything she wore was white! It was so fucking bright!" she laughs.

"Sounds like Lily," he comments. She nods.

"I saw her!" she says again. "She hugged me and talked to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. I still feel her arms around me. I miss her so much!" she says, looking down at the covers. He places a hand on her shoulder.

"I do too. Hell, in college we were the three musketeers! But at least you know she's watching you." Anna nods sadly.

"At least I have that." Suddenly the door burst open again and Anna smiles. All three of her kids rush over to her and she sees Daryl looking at her with a relieved look on his face.

"Mommy!" Scarlett cries as she latches onto her mother. Joey chuckles and gets up.

"Ill leave you to it," he says, walking out the door. Anna turns to her kids.

"I'm ok, guys. I'm alive." Aria frowns at her mother.

"We didn't think you would come back," she whispers. Anna leans forward and puts her arm around her shoulder, kissing her forehead.

"I'm here, aren't I?" she chuckles. Aria smiles and looks down at the kids.

"They're strong," she comments. Anna smiles.

"I know. So strong." Scarlett takes something out from her back pocket and hands them to her. Anna looks at them confused. "What's this?"

"Open it!" she laughs. Anna chuckles and opens the piece of paper that she handed. Inside was a picture of her and the kids. Anna smiles. "Me and Hunter drew it while you were sleeping!" Anna leans over and hugs both of them.

"Thank you, very much!" she says. She looks up and sighs. "Mommy has to talk to daddy for a little while, ok? I'll see you guys later. Aria can you take them out?" she asks. Aria nods and takes the small children out of the room, sending one last smile at her mother. When the door closes, Daryl comes over to her.

"Ya really scared the shit out of me, ya know that, right?" he says, sitting down next to her. She smiles at him.

"That's been my job since we met."

"Anna, we thought ya were gonna die. Ya didn't wake up for four days, and-" Anna silences him with a kiss, effectively shutting him up from whatever rant he was going to ensue on. He kisses back and places his hands on her waist. She chuckles and pulls back from him.

"I know how much pain you've gone through. I saw some of it inflicted on Rick earlier. But I will say that it won't happen again. I was just stressed and apparently dehydrated. And I had a special talk with someone that told me to stop worrying and enjoy life." He raises an eyebrow.

"A special friend? Is that Joey?" She shakes her head.

"When I was out, I talked to Lily. I was in the afterlife. I wasn't dead, but I was in the afterlife. I saw her, and she's an angel now and watching over me. And God she's even dirty when she's dead. I didn't see a white light or anything like that. Just her. I had a talk with her and it felt like it was four minutes, but it was actually four days in real time. I couldn't believe when I woke up four days had gone by. It felt like such a short time. I can't believe I'm alive to be true. I saw her and I seriously thought I had died, even though I didn't see a white light. I still feel her arms around me." She sighs. "I'm still alive."

"We gotta talk about something," he says. She knows what's coming next and she prepares to talk when he pulls out the test she had taken before all of this. She smiles small. "That's what made me pass out."

"How did this make ya pass out?" he asks.

"Just all the stress that I've had was in me. And the fact that I might be pregnant added more stress onto it, and then I found out I was and that just sealed the deal. I was so afraid something was going to happen to it that I passed out. After everything that I've been told from the group and about Lori, I just couldn't take the stress and my body shut down. I guess I went into shock." He looks down at the test.

"Jesus," he mutters. She puts her hand on his chin and brings his face up to look at hers. "How are we gonna keep a baby safe, Anna?" he asks. She shakes her head.

"Don't worry about that. Lily told me personally that everything was going to be alright. We don't need to worry." She smiles. "Daryl, we're having a baby," she says excitedly. He smiles small.

"It better be a fucking boy this time," he murmurs, kissing her on the lips. She chuckles and replies, but when she pulls back to look at him she's laughing.

"And what if it's a girl? What about then?" He rolls his eyes.

"Ya know what? I'll be happy whether it's a boy or a girl, but I'm praying to God it's a boy," he chuckles. She rolls her eyes back at him but smiles, taking his lips again.

They were having a baby.

* * *

**OMG SHE'S PREGNANT. XD to be true I had planned for her to be pregnant from the start, but I wanted it to be in a more safe environment so they wouldn't have to worry like Lori did. I didn't want my story turning into that. So next chapter I don't know if it's going to be like eight months later on just a few months in. But I know time is going to have passed and there will have been changes with her body. And yeah, I almost killed her! Lol I would never do that. She's alive and breathing. AND HAVING A FUCKING BABY. This will be fun! Thank you for reading and don't forget to review! Hope you enjoyed! And THANK YOU FOR OVER 6500 PEOPLE LOOKING AT MY STORY HOLY BALLS THIS IS AWESOME ok that's all! XD**


	26. Ethan

**So now that I put my note on my other story I will be focusing all my heart and mind on this! And I hope I can get this up before the big game! And thank you for the new reviews, follows, and favorites! It makes my day seeing those when I wake up in the morning. And I'm setting a word limit for myself for each chapter because my hand hurt like hell after each chapter and the last like ten chapters have been over 4000 words and I need to calm my fingers down. So my min. is 3000 words and my maximum is 3800 because I need to calm down my mind and space out my chapters XD**

**Ok, now that THAT's done, This chapter is going to be time later. The group has definitely adjusted to the campus and gotten used to life there. Also, more people have found the campus and have gotten used to it. Some more reunions. In probably a few chapters is when some drama will come into the picture. But this chapter is defiantly going to be a very lovey/family /friendly chapter. And I'm excited to write it! On with the story!**

* * *

**Eight Months Later**

Laughter echoed throughout the forest as Aria ran on the ground as fast as she could, crunching on leaves and snapping twigs that were strewn all over the place. A smile that reached her eyes was placed on her face as she ran from spot to stop, trying to find the little kids that were hiding from her. And she wasn't the only teenager searching, all the others were too.

This was a game that they played. Aria had found an open clearing with the kids one day and they had started this. It was like hide and seek, but instead of staying in one area, they would run around in circles and try to confuse the teenagers. And half the time they did confuse the teenagers. But sooner or later they would find them and then they would head back.

The little kids weren't out there unprotected though. You could say that school started up again…but not in the way that had math and science and English and all that. All the kids and even some young adults had an hour to two hours a day to train and learn how to defend themselves. The little kids simply learned how to us a gun and a knife so they could find something to protect themselves with, taught basic survival skills.

As for the older kids, teenagers, and young adults, they were taught not only how to use a gun and knives, but to use other weapons as well. Some kids even took up the bow and arrow, mostly girls surprisingly. Aria stuck with a smaller crossbow she had found on a raid one day, but a lot of others used knives, machetes, bows, rifles, anything that they could use to kill the fuckers that wanted to eat them.

Hunter had even taught the kids how to take out the part of the guns that made the sound. Their guns were completely silent now and didn't make a sound.

The kids had become like family. Scarlett had become close friends with a little girl names Sammy, who Layla and Drake had found out on a run one day. The two would often be seen playing and drawing together in the library or practicing together. The kids had gotten used to the feel of the gun in their hands as well. They did not even show a sight of fear in holding the gun and didn't even flinch when the gun was fired. They were used to it now.

But that didn't stop the kids from being, well, kids. They had a rec center that a lot of them flocked to. They would play all sorts of games and would play on the fields. There was a beach a few miles down the road surprisingly, and they had gone there when the weather had started to get warmer. There was even an indoor pool in the rec center.

The teens spread themselves out throughout the college. They had gotten a lot of the buildings working. Most of the girls would flock to one of the library's and talk and laugh, while the boys would head to one of the areas to play some sort of game. But either or, they would eventually all gather back and talk.

The campus had turned into a home.

Something that none of the kids or adults really knew would happen in this world.

"Scarlett!" Aria yells through the forest, listening to the laughter. It was slowly driving her crazy that she couldn't find these kids this time! They were getting too good at this game. "Hunter!" she yells, laughing at herself. She runs further into the woods and almost crashes down onto the ground when she smashes into an object.

It's hands reach out to steady her and she looks up, smiling at Carl. Aria had found out that he was only a few months younger than her, and now he was sixteen too. Both babysitted the kids, and she saw him around his little sister all the time, who was now a year old and could walk.

"Who are you looking for?" she asks quickly, glancing around her. He sighs.

"Billy!" he replies, and she could tell he was frustrated. Billy was just as good of a hider as Scarlett was. The two were the best at this game.

"Scarlett AND Hunter," she replies. He cringes.

"Oh, I feel bad for you," he chuckles. She rolls her eyes.

"Please do," she mumbles. All of a sudden Lizzie comes smashing through the bushes and she smiels at the two. "You?"

"Sammy!" she pants, leaning on her knees. Lizzie had just turned thirteen a month ago in July. "And Mika," she says, leaning back up to make eye contact. "Have any of you seen them?" Both shake there head.

"Sorry, Liz," Aria says.

"Dang it," she mumbles, looking up in the trees. "Where the hell have they gone?" she whines, looking around, hearing the laughter. "I can hear them but I can't see them at all!" she groans. Aria sees a tinsy bit of movement to her right and she turns her head sharply.

"We need to split up if we're going to find them! I just saw something!" The other two nod and they go their separate ways, while Aria looks to the bush. She runs to it and sees nothing behind it, but only to her left sees Hunter running as fast as he possibly could. "Ha!" she yells, chasing after him. They were one step closer to finishing this game.

* * *

"Look at all of them," Aria says later on when they had found the kids. She was now sitting on the very same rock she had found Carl and Rick on with Carl, watching the kids play on the ground below. Lizzie was with Mika and she was teaching her how to shoot the gun a bit more properly. Lizzie had become a very good person when it came to teaching the smaller kids what they didn't really get. She was very smart. "It feels so nice to watch the kids play and just be kids."

"When this whole thing started, it seemed almost impossible to really be a kid. Now, it seems almost normal in this world," Carl states. Aria laughs.

"Because it IS normal! Kids are supposed to have fun and play and just be free. It seems hard because of everything that's happened in the past couple years, but it's possible. And they survive, just look at the little kids below us." He chuckles, leaning a little bit over the edge.

"All I see is a bunch of dirt on the kids faces," he replies. She rolls her eyes and playfully smacks the back of his head.

"You're impossible," she says, leaning against the rock. He laughs and turns to Aria.

"You know when your mom's due?" he asks. She shrugs her shoulder.

"You're guess is as good as mine. But I will say that it might be soon. She's gotten big." When her mother had told her they would be having ANOTHER kid, in her mind she thought 'way to go, you didn't use protection,' but on the outside she was happy, and she had to admit, she was thankful to be having another little brother or sister to torture like she did to Scarlett and Hunter. It had been eight months since the announcement, and she was ready to pop.

"I wonder if it's going to be a boy or a girl. What do you want it to be?" he asks. She shrugs her shoulders.

"I've experienced having both a brother and a sister now, so to be true, I kind of want a girl because Hunter is so bloody messy!" He chuckles slightly. "But either way, I'll be happy. Gives me more people to drive crazy other then my mom and dad." She picks at her tank top that was sticking to her body. "God, I can't believe it's August and we're down here in plain sunlight. This is retarded," she mumbles.

"I thought you likes being out here with the kids?" he chuckles. She rolls her eyes.

"Not in freaking 100 degree weather," she replies. "Hey, I heard that Layla and Drake are planning a little dance for the teens. You know, like homecoming dance style in the stadium. Just for shit's sake." He raises an eyebrow.

"Really?" he chuckles. She nods, turning back to the kids and keeping an eye on her brother and sister playing near the small stream.

"Yeah. I think a few girls are crushing on you," she remarks. He snorts.

"Please," he replies. She shoulder bumps him and chuckles.

"I'm serious! I saw Nellie and Jayda looking at you the other day, and I heard Jayda say to Nellie that she would give anything to see how you kiss." He burst out laughing, his body shaking.

"I've never even kissed anyone before!" he replies, still laughing. She shrugs her shoulders and looks back to him.

"Apparently she thinks you have. But what do you say? If this happens will you take her?" He shakes his head.

"Heck no," he replies. "I'm not into dances that much." Aria snorts.

"That's what my dad said before he met my mom. Years later he dances with her every single time they went out." Carl rolls his eyes.

"Your parents have known each other for over twenty years now! He feels comfortable around her. Me? Not so much." She rolls her eyes at him, causing him to snicker.

"What about me? Would you dance with me?" she asks. He nods like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, yeah, because I like you a lot and-wait, that didn't come out right, I mean-oh," he stutters when she sees Aria's raised eyebrow at his comment. "I didn't mean it like-" She laughs.

"It's fine Carl," she chuckles. He was fun to squirm around.

* * *

Anna opened her eyes to the bright sunlight in the bedroom she and Daryl had. She looks around her and smiles, seeing Daryl still fast asleep, his eyes twitching slightly under his eyelids. She knew he was dreaming. It still amazed her how peaceful he looked when he slept compared to when he was awake. It felt nice to see this every once and a while.

She feels his arms wrapped tightly around her, and slowly reaches down to feel one of his hands resting on her extended stomach. She smiles wider and leans up, intending to peck his lips just simply, but was surprised when he started to kiss back. She smirks and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, if he wasn't already as close as he could be.

When he pulls back, his eyes are open and she could still see bits of sleep in them. "Now that's a way to be woken up," he says, pulling back a bit to look at her. She laughs.

"Yeah, I guess it is. You've done it for me so I might as well do it for you," she replies, pecking his lips once more. "I thought that I could return the favor," she chuckles. He smirks at her.

"Consider it returned. But it would be nice to be woken up like that every morning." She shrugs her shoulders.

"I could try, but it's very rare I wake up before you." He shrugs his shoulders and kisses her again, this time a bit more heated.

"Ya could do that while I'm awake," he muses. She raises an eyebrow.

"Then what's the-you're impossible," she chuckles, leaning against him slightly. She feels him chuckle against him and she smiles. Suddenly, she feels something down below her and she smiles. She takes his hand and looks up at him, glee written all over her face. "I felt the baby kick," she says happily.

She moves his hand down towards her stomach and places it over where she felt the kick. When it happens again, he grins. "Well, I'll be damned," he snickers. "Something tells me you're gonne be climber," he talks to the stomach, making her laugh. "Just like your mama. Be climbing up trees and impossible to get ya down."

"You always got me down, though," she comments to him. He chuckles and leans back up, pecking her lips again.

"Ya were still a pain in my ass to get down," he chuckles. She smiles and gets up from her bed, throwing on a shirt and walking into the living room of their apartment.

The family of five-soon to be six-was actually moved to another vacant apartment so they could have more room for the incoming child. And it was what Anna thought was one of the biggest apartments in the campus.

It must have been home to eight students during college. There were four bedroom that could fit two people in each. Obviously Daryl and Anna had one to their selves. Anna and Aria had their own room that they shared. Aria had even taken the initiative and found paint, painting it a soft purple color that both girl could agree on. They had definitely made the room their own. Aria even had her own desk that she would paint on, and most of her sketches and paintings littered the walls, like they had been at the prison. It reminded her of good times and meeting all the people that she considered family.

Then there was Hunter. The boy was now nine, and he had his own room, of course. His room was a simple green that was there before they came, It was a nice room, that actually had a comfy bed. He had littered his walls with sketches and posters he had found. One of the posters that he had was a giant Batman poster that covered the back of his door. He had been his favorite superhero when he was younger. He had all his weapons on the desk. Like his older sister, he had a small crossbow that fit him. He had been getting really good, especially since his father had been teaching him. He had his pistols and his knives that her mother had taught him with. He was getting really good at those as well. He had even commented that he would be as good as his sister with the crossbow, to which he received a smack to the head from said sister.

The last room was now littered with baby supplies. There was a small crib that was prepared to hold the newborn when it came into the world. There were new baby clothes ready to be put on and little toys. The room was a bright white. Aria and the kids had even picked out their own toys to put in the room for their new sibling. They were very excited to see the new human that would waddle it's little way into their life.

"Daryl, I'm heading down to the campus center to help Layla!" Anna yells from the kitchen, grabbing a quick slice of toast from the small toaster they had. She knew that Layla needed her help today in the kitchen to help prepare the food for the small dance they were going to have in a few days. The kids didn't even know.

* * *

Layla, Maggie and Anna had become close enough to be thought of as sisters in the time they had been together at the campus. They all drove each other crazy, but loved each other enough to take a bullet for them if the time came. Layla was positively bouncing off the walls the moment Anna walked in. She raises an eyebrow. "Why are you so happy?" she asks curiously.

"Something tells me she had a little fun last night," Maggie says to her. Glenn had somehow found the campus a few months back, and he was ok. He and Maggie had had a joyful reunion, and ever since then, Maggie was so much more happier and open then she had been when she wasn't with Glenn. Anna liked Glenn too. He was funny, when he wanted to be, but also very caring and sweet. She could defiantly see him as one of her friends that she probably would have had back in high school.

"Oh really?" she chuckles at Layla. Layla blushes and looks down at the plate she was scrubbing.

"I didn't do that with him!" she insists. Maggie and Anna raise an eyebrow and look at each other with a sly look on their faces. Then they look back at her and Layla sighs. "Ok, fine, me and Drake did have a little fun last night." Anna snickers and Maggie just rolls her eyes, walking over to her side.

"It's fine to share details about that, Lay'" she remarks. "Anna's proof of that," she gestures to her stomach. Anna glares at her playfully and sticks out her tongue.

"Yeah, I am!" she chuckles. "I have to say though, I am ready for it to pop out," she chuckles. Both girls nod.

"Good. Then we can get you back to work on killing all those walkers," Maggie comments. Anna smiles and takes one of her dishes.

"And there's something else I should tell you guys!" Layla says excitedly. Maggie and Anna look at her expectedly and Layla holds out her hand. Anna smiles. There was a ring. "He asked me to marry him!" she squeals in excitement. Both girls smile at her.

"It's about time," Anna mumbles. "I'm so happy for you though. You and Drake belong together," she muses, placing her plate down on the table. When she starts to retract her hand, she stops moving for a second. Maggie sees this and rushes over to her.

"Anna? Are you alright?" she asks concerned. Anna nods shakily.

"Yup…but I think my water just broke."

* * *

Three hours later and a lot of grueling pain, but worth it, Anna was in an infirmary bed, dazed, but awake, and looking lovingly down at her new born. A boy. Daryl got his wish. The first thing she noticed about the little bundle was that he had his father's strikingly blue eyes, and then noticed he had his mothers dark brown hair. Born with a full head of hair, just like she had been. She prayed that it didn't fall of like other babies hair has.

"I can't believe this," she mumbles to the little boy. "Another Dixon boy. This is going to be fun," she chuckles. The baby was fast asleep. She sees the door open in front of her and smiles. Here comes the family.

"A boy?" Aria asks quietly, coming over to her mother's side. Anna nods and hands her the baby, to which she takes gratefully and smiles at him. "He's adorable," she laughs quietly, showing him to the other two siblings who were too young to really hold the baby carefully.

"He looks like daddy," Scarlett says, looking up at Daryl. He smiles down at her and nods.

"Yeah, he does," he agrees, sitting next to Anna and kissing her on the lips lovingly.

"We have four kids," she mouths to Daryl. He nods.

"I know," he says amazed. Hunter looks up at them.

"What are we naming him?" he asks. Anna looks at Daryl.

"I don't know, actually. Been so busy I haven't really thought about names lately." She thinks for a moment. A name pops into her head. "How about Ethan?" she asks, thinking of one of her friends back in college. He had been the reason she got onto Broadway. "That name always sounded nice to me."

"I like it," Aria comments, looking back down at the baby boy with a smile on her face.

"Ethan Dixon…has a ring to it," Daryl says, chuckling a little. Anna does as well. It did have a ring.

**Aw, little family moments like that make me smile and feel all good inside. And they had the baby! Little Ethan! And we had a little flirty moment between Carl and Aria, I love writing for those two XD I'm so happy I wrote this chapter, been waiting to. Thanks for reading and REVIEW! Hope you enjoyed! : ) And I just found out Ethan means 'strong' I pick the perfect names XD**


	27. Paul and Jack

**Jesus, Broncos. That was TERRIBLE. Good thing I was cheering for the Seahawks since the beginning. I seriously thought that the Broncos were going to win. Guess I was wrong. And OMG less then a week guys! I just cant XD I need it now. And I got off from school today because it was snowing really hard. Its like the first time in years I had a day off after the superbowl. And I also got more reviews on the last chapter and THANK YOU SO MUCH I LUV U! And I literally want to like die right now because again, less than a week!**

**So this chapter will be a few months after Ethan was born…I'd say five months. I didn't want to write about all the crying and all. And I wanted to make sure after I wrote about the baby that Anna would be back on her feet and ready to kick some ass. Oh, the end of this chapter is going to be fun!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Aria watched Hunter and Scarlett play with the other kids one day. Her parents had gone off on a raid to get more supplies for the group with Drake and Layla. They even mentioned of going to the forest to get some more meet. That left Aria in charge of Ethan, who she was feeding a bottle too, his blue eyes smiling up at her.

It was now late January and Ethan was five months old. And he actually wasn't that bad of a baby. He didn't cry as much as Scarlett had, and slept a lot more then he was awake. Maybe he would turn out to be a complete lazy bum when he grew up. But no, that wouldn't happen. He was a Dixon. And Dixon's were never lazy. She had learned that now.

It was chilly outside, but as Aria was, the cold didn't bother her. She hadn't even used her powers in a long time. None of them had really. They hadn't been called into using. But that didn't stop her siblings from being cold. So she made sure to bundle them up in a jacket for the almost 40 degree weather so they could play outside.

Right now they were playing tag, and Aria prayed to God that they wouldn't get that dirty, because they had a special event that they had to do later on. Layla and Drake were finally tying the knot.

At first, Aria had thought that waiting to have the wedding was kind of stupid, because neither of them knew if they were going to live the next day. But as time went by, the idea of a wedding sounded nice to them. A night to just forget what was happening outside and just to enjoy themselves.

It had been a year since the prison attack now. And they were surviving. Very well, actually. She was seventeen, and she was happy. Not to mention she had two new siblings because of this. And she prayed to God that she wouldn't get another until this all cleared up.

She had even picked out a dress in a shop to wear to wedding. They had started to fix up the main room and fixed up the electronics so that there would be some music. She was excited to have some fun.

She looks down at the baby and smiles at the boy sucking on the bottle. "You are such a cutie," she whispers, chuckling to herself. "When you grow up, you're gonna be one handsome dude. I can already tell. But you better not drive me crazy, or else I can screw that up for you."

Scarlett was already beginning to look older. She was now eight, and Hunter was going to be turning ten soon. Scarlett wasn't the little girl she used to be. She still loved to be a kid and play with others, but she was also very protective and not afraid to hurt someone if they threatened her family. She was practically an expert now with her pistol. This was her eight year old sister. It was hard to believe that this was Scarlett.

Both the two kids had become very protective over their little brother. Both of them actually helped take care of him when their parents couldn't. And they got to hold the baby now. They easily were able to hold him.

But even Aria knew that Scarlett would be turning in early that night. She loved dancing and being with family, but when it came down to the wee hours of the night, she was a slug and just wanted to climb into bed.

Her parents made good-looking children.

She snorts to herself and repositions the baby in her arms, making sure to keep a close eye on the kids. She feels someone sit down next to her and she chuckles. She knew that presence by now. "What's up, Carl?" she asks.

He shrugs. "Nothing much, just dreading tonight." She raises any eyebrow, chuckling slightly.

"Why?" she asks. "I mean, it's a wedding! And a party! We haven't been to one in ages and it will be fun to just let go of life outside and just have fun together." He rolls his eyes. "Stop being such a Grinch," she states, pushing his shoulder. She had used that term on him throughout December because he wasn't ever in the Christmas spirit. "Weddings are fun, and you will have fun. Even if I have to drag your ass out of a chair and plant it on the dance floor." He laughs at the statement and looks at the baby in her arms.

"How's he doing?" he asks. She sighs happily.

"Heavenly," she chuckles, looking at Ethan. "He's nothing like Scarlett was. She used to cry almost every night until she was two. Sometimes we ignored her crying because it was just a nightmare. No eating or changing, just a nightmare. And it would pass a few minutes later. But with Ethan, he's such a good boy," she chuckles, bouncing him in her arms for a second, causing the baby to giggle and smile up at her.

"He looks like Daryl," he states. Aria laughs. "And he's grown more hair since that day he came." She nods.

"Yeah he has…hey, are you wearing anything fancy to the wedding tonight? Like a dress shirt or something?" He shrugs.

"If my dad can find something. I know your dad probably wont." She smiles.

"He probably won't," she agrees, seeing her dog suddenly run up to the kids. "How did Pepper get out?" she laughs as the beagle starts to jump on the kids in an attempt to play. "Oh, she's rough," she sighs. "Can you take Ethan for a second? I need to take care of Pepper." He nods and takes the baby from her arms as she takes off to the dog, who was pouncing all over the kids. "Pepper!" she yells, a slight laugh in her voice.

Carl snickers and looks down at the little baby, who was smiling up at him, his eyes full of wonder at the new person holding him. "You're gonna have a great life, you know that?" he says to the kid, who continues to stare at him with the same expression. "You got a great mom and dad, and not to mention great siblings…specifically Aria," he states, looking to where Aria had now gotten the dog in her arms and was carrying her back towards the apartments. "She's something special."

* * *

Anna sat perched up in a tree like a bird, staring down at the meadow she had found prior to where she was. There were some walkers roaming the area, but walkers could climb trees. She was safe as long as she was up there.

She looks down at her body and smiles. After having Ethan, she automatically got back out on the field and it showed. She now of course was her original skinny figure that she had been, but she was more fit now then she had ever been in her life. Layla had been teaching her how to really climb a tree, and doing so gave her real muscles in her upper arms. And of course she had her dancer legs. Strong and fit.

The small group of her, Daryl, Layla, and Drake had gone and picked up more supplies for the group back at the campus and decided to split up and maybe find some more food. Right now, Anna was relaxing in the meadow she had found, her legs swinging over a tree branch. It reminded her of when she was twenty and she was visiting down south.

Her and Daryl had this meadow they would go to when they just wanted to escape from the world. In that meadow was where she had gotten her true first kiss. Not the sloppy one Jack had given her back when she was fifteen. Daryl was her first. And to be true, Joey thought that they hadn't been together until that night when she was 23, but they had been together before that. Just wasn't that known as people would have thought it would be. They kept it under wraps.

"_How's school been going?" he asks as she picks at grass on the ground. Some of it was covering them, hiding their faces from the world. "Going in to sophomore year this year. Getting an apartment?" She nods._

"_Yeah, I am. Excited to be getting out of the dorms," she states, looking out into the distance. He notices the sad look on her face and come closer._

"_What's with the face?" he asks curiously, pushing her shoulder. She chuckles a little and faces him._

"_I don't know just…tired I guess. Still pissed off at Paul," she grumbles. He rolls his eyes._

"_Ya broke up with him. Why are ya sad?" he asks. "He was an asshole. He deserves to be dumped by every girl he meets. And he's definitely not good enough for ya," he states. She laughs._

"_And who is?" she chuckles. He shrugs his shoulders._

"_No one," he replies. She smiles and brings her knees up to her chest._

"_It's not that I'm sad about breaking up with him. In fact, I'm more than happy I've broken up with him. He was nothing but trouble. I just really thought that he was the one for me, you know? But when I kissed him the first time, I didn't feel that spark that I was supposed to feel. And I just don't count that as a first kiss." She sighs, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. "He didn't even get me a flower. He was so bad."_

"_Just stop thinking about him, then," he states, tilting her head up so her eyes could meet his. She chuckles and listens. "He's a dick and he doesn't deserve to even be in yer mind. So stop thinking anf let it go," he finish's, letting go of her chin. She smiles and looks out._

"_I remember when I left the house I was staying in with him. The stupid apartment. I actually became good friends with his roommates. And they're the ones who gave me a bouquet," she huffs, her arms crossing her chest. "I finally get a bouquet and it's a goodbye present. That's depressing." He chuckles at her._

"_Didn't yer dad give ya a rode for yer birthday the last time?" She rolls her eyes at him, her head turning to meet his eyes again._

"_Yeah, one. Just one rose isn't a bouquet," she mumbles, throwing a pebble into the grass in front of them. Snickering, he picks a flower and places it in her hair, causing her to smile at him._

"_It isn't a bouquet," he mocks. "But I think it'll do for now," he says, taking his hand down from her hair and letting it linger for a moment near her face before bringing it down to his side. She smiles and comes closer to him, bringing him in for a hug._

"_Thanks, D," she says when she pulls back, then cups his face gently, leaning in and pecking his cheek. She could tell that he was surprised, but when she pulled back she smiled at him, letting her hand linger on his cheek. But instead of pulling away like she thought he would, his hand actually comes up and meets hers, covering it. Her breath catches in her throat._

_All of a sudden he starts to kiss the palm of her hand, causing her cheeks to turn a dark crimson. His lips trail down her hand and to her wrist, and Anna was speechless. She knew he was capable of affection, but nothing like this. Then, the hand that was holding hers released its grip and grabbed the back of her head, bringing her head to his, and their lips finally connected. Anna kissed back, and she smiled. This was her first kiss._

_His lips disconnected from hers and starts to trail down her neck, kissing it in some very sensitive spots, and Anna had to fight herself not to let out a moan. They travel back to her lips and she wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and kissing him just as deep as he was kissing her._

_She felt that spark for the first time that day._

She smiles at the memory and almost lost her track of time and exactly where she was. She hears the crunching of leaves in front of her and she looks down. Right there, there was a deer, sniffing the ground for food to eat.

She smiles and positions her arrow in her bow. She had taken up a liking to a bow and arrows, and she found that she was actually quite good with them. She pulls back the string, takes a deep breath, and lets the arrow fly through the air, and it lands itself firmly in the head if the deer, it falling down dead.

She smirks and jumps out of the tree, landing besides it. And that's when she sees the arrows in the side of it. The deer was already dead before she even pulled back the string. And she knew whose arrows those were.

"Daryl?" she whines. "I actually thought I got one by myself!" she chuckles, taking out the arrows. She hear the leafs crunching and she turns around, seeing-what do you know-Daryl stepping out of the bushes. He smiles at her.

"It that yer arrow in the head?" he asks amazed. She smiles proudly and nods, taking it out of the head. "Damn, you've gotten good with that," he says, leaning down to take out some of his.

"While you're losing game. You got its side. What happened to that fantastic aim?" she chuckles. He glares at her playfully but comes down next to her, taking the arrows. She looks at the deer and smiles. "This will be perfect for-" She is suddenly was stopped when Daryl silenced her with his lips on hers. She smiles and places her arms around his neck, kissing back. She is first to pull away. "What was that for?" she chuckles. He shrugs his shoulders.

"Just felt like kissing ya. That so wrong?" he replies. She smirks.

"Not when you're such a great kisser," she says, pecking his lips once more, but he deepened the kiss and laid her down on the grass. She giggles as he starts to kiss down her neck. "Daryl, I really do not want to risk having another kid again," she chuckles. She feels him snicker and he pulls back, pecking her lips once more.

"Ya and I make pretty good kids," he replies. "What's wrong with another one?" She looks at him stupefied, a stupid smile on her face, causing him to snicker again.

"You're not the one who has to carry it around for eight months! So get off me," she ends, slipping out from under him and getting back to the deer. "We need to get this back to Drake and Layla." She sighs happily. "God, they're getting married today! Oh, I'm so excited!" she squeals. Daryl raises an eyebrow.

"Ain't like it's your own," he chuckles. She rolls her eyes.

"It's still my friend," she replies, smacking his head playfully. "And not to mention we've been waiting for them to seal the deal for such a long time. It's annoying how long it took." He snorts.

"Took us twenty years," he mutters. Oh but she heard, and she looks annoyed at him for a second before shaking her head.

"Just pick up the bloody deer!"

* * *

Anna rests her head against Daryl's shoulder later that night, watching Layla and Drake get married. Layla had nothing but a pure smile on her face, light in her eyes. The same with Drake. Anna and Maggie had done her makeup and her hair, and she was in a flowing white gown they had found in a shop one day. And it fit her perfectly. There was a white lily in her hair, and Anna couldn't help but think back to her friend.

She glances around the room and looks at everyone. Maggie and Glenn were close together, there hands clasped, while Beth, which they had found a few months ago, was sitting next to Jason, one of the other teenagers there. Her eyes travel to her children in the row in front of them, and then Aria, who was sitting next to Carl and Rick. And Anna could tell from a mile away that her daughter had a crush on Carl. But she didn't mind. The kid was nice, and not to mention made her daughter happy.

"You may exchange vows," the man said. Drake smiles and goes first.

"Layla, from the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were something special. You were the only person that really matched my personality, let me be who I wanted to be, and accepted for who I was. We escaped Atlanta together and have been protecting each other ever since, and loving each other came easily for us. And I swear on my heart that I will continue to keep you alive for the rest of my life. You are beautiful, and perfect. And I will love you with all my heart, for forever." Anna smiles and looks to Layla. She looked about ready to cry.

"Drake. How can I put my love for you in words? You saved me from the things outside. And when life truly started to look grim for me, you brought a light into my life. And it keeps shining every single day that you are in my life. You helped me out of a dark place, gave me something to hold onto during the night and to love. To be cherished by. To have and to hold. And as you said, loving you came easily. I love with every ounce of my human being, and of my soul. And nothing out there could ever break that." Anna feels something on her head and realizes Daryl just pecked it. She smiles at him lovingly and turns back to the couple.

They exchanged the words and the rings, and sooner or later is was time for the grand finale. "You may kiss the bride." And they did. Very much. Everyone cheered, Anna clapping the loudest for her friend. When everyone settled down, and the two had stopped kissing, Aria suddenly stood up and smiles.

"LET'S PARTY!" she yells, and everyone either laughs or cheers in reply.

* * *

"Look at Aria," Anna says to Daryl later on. "She hasn't been this happy in ages," she sighs, leaning back against her chair. Daryl nods, impressed a little.

"I'm surprised she got Carl up there. He never seemed like the dancing type," she replies. She snorts dna leans over to him.

"I think she has a little crush on him," she whispers into his ear. He chuckles when he pulls back.

"Really?" he asks. She nods, looking back at the two dancing with the other teenagers to 'Cruise.' "Didn't think she did."

"Yeah. What do you think about that?" she asks, waiting his response. He looks a bit closer at the two and shrugs, leaning back in his chair.

"The kid has been through a lot. But he's still a good kid. And I think he would be good for her. I mean, she's only 17-"

"ONLY 17?" she replies, making him chuckle. "Daryl, that's practically a legal adult now," she laughs. "I think they would be cute together. They need a name." He raises an eyebrow.

"A name?" he replies. She nods.

"Like a couple name, you know like 'Bradgelina'…oh, 'Caria!'" she chuckles, turning to him. He snorts.

"That sounds like a car name," he chuckles. She laughs and turns back to the two.

"Do you have any better ideas?" she asks, gesturing to the two. He shakes his head, raising his hands in a surrender motion.

"Nah, I don't do that." Anna smiles and looks to the other grownups, sighing happily.

"I'm glad Joey said he would take care of Ethan tonight. Nice to get away from the kid, right?" she whispers, up at him. He nods a little.

"Yeah, just nice not to hear the crying, even if he's not as bad as Scarlett," he replies. She laughs, nodding her head as well.

"She was a howler!" she laughs, her head on his shoulder again. Said girl came running up to them and hid under the table. Daryl and Anna look at each other with a confused look on their faces and lean down to the table. "Scarlett, what are you doing, sweetie?" Anna asks, chuckling a little.

"Hiding from Billy! He's trying to kiss me cheek!" she whines, sticking her head out to glance at her parents. Daryl turns his head away so she wouldn't see him laugh at her comment while Anna just had a smile on her face.

"It's not that bad sweetie," she chuckles. 'Cooties are the reason why you're even here,' she thinks to herself, chuckling even more.

* * *

Anna was patrolling the next day with Joey and Nathan, making sure to keep her bow and arrow up if she saw anything. "Yesterday was so nice," Nathan says. "Why didn't you come Joey?" Nathan asks. Joey shrugs his shoulders.

"Didn't feel like coming." Anna smiles sadly. She knew the reason why was because Joey wanted to have his own wedding one day and now that Shane was gone he didn't have a chance. "Plus I was taking are of a baby the whole time so…" Anna glares at him.

"You signed up for that, asshole," she replies, poking him in the stomach. He laughs at her but stops when he hears sudden movement coming from the bushes in front of them. Anna aims her arrow while both the men aim their guns, waiting for the walker to come out. When it didn't, she knew it was a human. "Come out! We're not going to hurt you!" she comments, even thought she probably would if the person jumped out at them with a knife in their hands.

"I'm ok! I don't have any weapons on me!" one voice said. Anna's brow furrows. That voice sounded familiar.

"It's the truth! We don't!" another voice sounded. That sounded familiar too!

"Then step out!" Nathan yells. The two men reluctantly step out into the open and Anna could feel her jaw drop to the ground, and she felt Joey tense up behind her. They knew who these people were.

Jack and Paul.

**Oh, cliffhanger! I've been wanting to do that for a while! And I'm happy I did a wedding scene. I've been wanting to do that two. But now two assholes who are a part of Anna's bad past step into the picture! This can only end badly! And thank you for over 40 reviews! Thanks for reading and as always, REVIEW! Hope you enjoyed! Heaven knows I did!**

**And by the way, Paul is her ex-boyfriend from freshman year in college. Just saying. And if you don't know who Jack is you NEED to re read the story. And by the way. The kissing scene in the memory? I got this from a gif. Its all the pictures except for the girl running away.**

**Link: post/75312122745/get-your-stupid-fcking-rope-mushroom-kiss**

**And yes, that is a younger Norman Reedus. JESUS. 3**


	28. Flames

**HEY! So this is going to be a short chapter! Probably only 3000 because I have news…I'm doing a sequel! Yup! There will be a sequel. I'm ending the story on this chapter and moving on. I'm excited to write it! **

**So in this chapter shit's gonna go down. I'm excited to finish up this story and move on to my next, and then after that the sequel. I'm happy I have people looking at my stories and reviewing and everything! So thankful!**

**Ok, on with the story!**

* * *

"We can not fucking keep them here!" Anna snarls at Drake while Layla was holding her arms back, preventing her to pounce on the scared young man. "You have no clue what either of those men have put me through!"

"I agree with that," Joey says, and Daryl nods next to him.

"We've seen what these ass's do, and we're not keepin' them here," Daryl says, calmly, coming next to his wife who face was currently red from anger.

"Sure as hell we're not keeping them here!" she yells, getting up in Drakes face again. He puts his hands up to stop from any hits that would come to him. Layla comes in between them, stopping the two form any fight that might break out.

"Ok, calm down, both of you!" she yells, looking at Anna, practically pleading her with her eyes. "There had to be some rational decision to come out of this!" she argues. Anna glares at her.

"We kick them out. Simplest fucking plan in the world!" she hisses. Layla cringes slightly and backs away. Maggie comes up behind her and places a hand on Layla's shoulder, and she look up at her. Maggie shakes her head.

"Jack and Paul are asses. We can't have them here." Anna looks gratefully at Maggie.

"Plus, they might be working for the Governor!" she growls, turning back to them. "We didn't see half of the people there! They might be-" All of a sudden, a loud bang was heard from outside, followed by screaming. "Shit!" she whispers, running as fast as she could near the doors. She burst outside and saw Aria running towards her with the three other kids.

"Mom!" she coughs, coming to her, and leaning against her, trying to catch her breath. Anna looks at her and looks around, horror in her eyes. The campus was on fire.

Someone had fucking set it on fire.

She growls and shakes her head. No! This was not happening again. Not when they had found some sort of peace and harmony.

The rest of the group came up behind her and stopped when they saw the campus was on fire. "Ok, I believe you now," Layla whispers, her hands going up to her mouth, trying to stop the sobs that were bound to come out. Both of the little kids clutch onto each of their parents legs, scared for what was happening.

"What's happening, dad?" Hunter asks, looking up at Daryl. "Why is it all on fire?" Daryl looks down and squeezes his shoulder comfortably.

"It'll be alright kid, we'll get out of this," he assured and looked at Anna, and he could see pure hatred in her eyes. All of a sudden, her head turns to the right sharply, and she screams, "DUCK!"

Everyone ducks as bullets race above their heads, narrowly missing them. Her eyes narrow. This was not happening.

"These are Governors people," Rick says, looking closer and glaring. "They're out to get us," he growls. Anna nods sharply and turns to Hunter.

"Hunter, take Scarlett and Ethan out of here," she says quickly, grabbing her gun. "Just run and don't look back," she says, using the same words she used for Aria when the prison had been attacked a year ago. Scarlett looks up with her with wide eyes.

"Mommy…" she whimpers. Anna turns to her daughter.

"Aria, you stay here with me and Daryl. Get every child out! Now! Fight when you need too!" Anna screams at the group. Everyone nods and goes off in different directions. Rick places a hand on her shoulder, a mental gesture saying 'we'll get out of this.' She nods. 'I hope we do,' she replies.

He runs off and Anna turns to her youngest, kissing them on the head. She turns to Hunter. "you protect them, you here? Just keep running. Don't be afraid to use that gun of yours Scarlett," she says. Scarlett looks scares, but nods. Anna kisses her cheek and Scarlett runs up to Daryl, who wraps his arms around her in a tight embrace. He pulls back and the two send the kids off with one final goodbye. Anna turns to Daryl and Aria.

"Mom-"

"Aria, go to the apartments and get the kids. Find Carl. Use your powers. And I mean it," she says lowly. Aria nods hesitantly, hugging her mother and father before running off and avoiding and ice blasts. Anna turns to Daryl. "I can't believe this is happening," she growls.

"We're gonna get out of this. Just stay by me. We're gonna kill those assholes," he says confidently. She nods, and leans in, kissing him as passionate as she could. When she pulls back, she sighs.

"Just in case," she says. He glares and kisses her again.

"There ain't no just in case. Let's go." They both stand up and run. She feels bullets wiz past her every once and a while. But she was too quick. She would not let these fuckers kills her. Not yet. She was too stubborn to die.

"Daryl, get to the other side and get the asshole who's shooting the rifle. I got an idea where the two bastards are." He nods and runs off. She hide behind a small area where the gun could not reach her and took a deep breath. He would be ok and so would her children. They would be fine. They were tough. They were Dixons.

And so was she.

She was Annabelle Elizabeth Dixon, and she was fighter. She was strong. And she would survive this. And she would KILL Jack.

With that thought, she jumps out from her spot and runs to the rec centor, where there had been so many memories made. This was where they had dragged them too when they found them in the bushes. Joey had tied them up, but obviously not tight enough for them not to get out and call the rest of their buddies. And now their home was screwed. And she would have revenge.

She runs into the center and stops when she notices all the lights are out. The only light was from the rising sun in the distance, creating a red glow over her. Compared to outside, which sounded like a war zone, it was quiet. Way too quiet.

She hears the footsteps and ducks as she sees the knife being thrown at her. She looks and see Jack there with a crazy smile on his face. She glares at him. "Why are you here? What do you want from me?!" she cries. "You've taken my home. You've taken everything!"

"I want you dead!" he growls, throwing another knife at her. She dodges it and rolls on her back, swiftly running around him, trying to get the upper hand. But he was stronger then her. Much stronger. He was bigger too.

"You already killed me when I was fifteen!" she yells, throwing a knife of her own. He chuckles evilly at her as he dodges it.

"And then you ruined my life!" he says. "You're rumors spread, and once they were proven true, I didn't get anywhere. And now you're group KILLED my brother! My only family!" Her eyes widened slightly. The Governor was his brother? No wonder he was crazy. "And now I'm keeping my promise…I'm killing you and the rest of your little group. A bunch of assholes!" he screams, grabbing her hands and pinning her against the walls. She screams as she is pinned and can't get loose. He held a knife to her throat and chuckles again. "I've been wanting to do this for a long time…what you get, even fucked up that piece of redneck trash, you dirty little whore," he hisses.

She feels something snap in her. Something she had been keeping under control for a very long time. All the self control she once had seemed to go out the fucking window and into La La Land. She didn't give a fuck anymore. And that's what caused her hands to warm up to the heat you would feel if you stuck your hand in blue fire. His eyes widen in pain as he feels the searing pain on his hands. He screams and pulls away, looking at his hands.

They were covered in blisters and burns. He looks up at her, horrified and shocked, and backs up slightly. She didn't look like herself. Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail, and was now hanging in front of her face, covering her eyes, giving her a more menacing look. Bit her eyes weren't the brown it usually was. For the first time in forever, she felt true anger and her soul flamed at this man. And her eyes were a pure dark red. And fire was building up in her hands.

He backs away from her as she raises her hands, the fireballs growing larger and larger, until she finally let's one loose at him, it flying into him. He screams and falls to the floor, his shirt now on fire. She thros another, and then shapes a string of fire from her hands, whipping him with it, sending him into a world of pain. He yells and screams, but only Anna could hear nothing. She just wanted to beat the and burn the crap out of this guy.

The fire took over and slowly started to burn away at his flesh causing him to scream out in extraordinary pain. She back away from him and falls to the ground, scooting away from him as he burned to a crisp on the ground, his cries of pain echoing throughout the rec center. She gets up and stares at him for a moment, pure hatred shining in her eyes. She finally got him back. Now it was-

"Jack?" she hears behind her. She spins around and has another fireball ready to throw, but sees Paul there. He looks to the burning man, who was now officially dead, and too Anna. He glares viciously at her and starts to get up to attack her, but she hurls the fireball at him, causing him to fall to the ground. She scoffs and kicks him in the ribs, away from her.

"Fucking asswipe," she states, stepping out of the rec center and running to the other side. She needed to find the others. Kill the invaders. And find Daryl.

She needed to find her family.

* * *

Aria charges up the stairs of the apartment and get the kids out as quick as she could. Every once and a while she would see someone shooting and she would shoot them in reply. But every single time she looked in a little kids face, all she saw were the worried faces of her younger siblings. And she hated it.

She gets another one of the kids out, and goes to the next room, but crashes into Carl when going in. "Anna what the hell is happening?" he asks. She swallows and pushes him out, taking his hand and leading him down the hallway.

"Is there any other kid on this floor?" she asks, covering her mouth from the smoke downstairs. He shakes his head. She thanks God. This was the last floor of the building. She didn't have any more kids. She could get out and find her family.

"Aria-"

"People of the Governor found us! And they're attacking. The campus is on fire! We need to get out of here as soon as possible!" she says, going to the window she came from. "We need to jump! Downstairs is on fire." He nods and the two jump out the window from the second floor. When they land, Aria lands in a weird position on her ankle, but she ignores it and gets up. She turns to Carl. "Go find tour dad and get out of here. This place isn't safe anymore. And don't worry, Beth had Judith. I saw her with her." She sees his eye relax and she goes to take off, but he grabs her hand before she could go. "Carl, I gotta go!" she says, through the smoke around them. "And so do you!"

Hesitantly, he quickly leans in and pecks her cheek. When he pulls back, she's looking at him with amazement. "Just in case." She nods and looks down at his hand in hers. She smirks.

"Fuck it," she whispers, and pulls his hand towards hers, lurching him forward, causing him to lose his balance. And in that time, she places her lips on his. He freezes for a second, but begins to kiss back, hesitantly. When she pulls back, she grins. "Just in case," she mocks, pushing him off. "Go find your dad!" she yells, running off without a final glance.

She runs further and further until she reaches the woods where her mother had told her to go. That's when she realized that that had been her first kiss. 'Great, my first kiss in a war. That's depressing,' she thinks, snickering to herself.

All around her, she sees people trying to get her. She tries to run even faster, but eventually trips on a tree root and falls to the ground. She hustles to get up, but is stopped by a foot on her chest and rifle to her forehead. She recognized one of the men. He was there at the prison. And on whim, she waves her hand and freezes his whole right body, sending ice through out his body. His eyes widen and he tries to move, but he can't, and starts to panic. She gets up and freezes the rest of the area around his feet so he wouldn't get out, and runs in further away, ignoring the screams of the man.

She knew he would eventually break free of the ice. It wasn't that strong because she wasn't feeling strong. She was scared. She was terrified. A walker comes from behind a tree and she sends a spear of ice from the ground into its head, killing it instantly. She looks at it for a split second, looking at the sharp blade of frozen water impaled in its head, and then runs off, knowing that she needed to find her family.

* * *

Scarlett holds onto Hunters hand as they run into the forest, deeper and deeper. Ethan was in Hunters arms. He didn't have a lick of a clue what was going on around them.

"We need to find shelter!" Hunter says as he hears gunshots in the distance. Scarlett stops him from running and puts her hands out, telling him to stop from running. "Scarlett-"

"Let me work!" she snaps. She stomps her foot on the ground and four stone walls from the ground rise up around them and blend into the trees. Hunter stares at it amazed before climbing into it with Ethan in his arms still. Scarlett goes in after, stomping her foot to seal the entrance to the little fortress.

"I forgot you could do that," he mumbles, looking around the dark place.

"Came in handy, didn't it?" Scarlett replies, bringing her knees to her chest and starting to cry softly. "I don't like this. Mommy and daddy are still out there, and so is Aria. What if they don't come back? What if they get stuck out there and can't find us? What if they get shot? What if-"

"Scarlett, you're starting to upset Ethan," Hunter says, pointing to the small baby who was beginning to squirm. She pouts at the baby and sighs.

"Sorry, Ethan," she mumbles, kissing his forehead. Hunter places a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up. He could see the pain in her eyes.

"They'll be fine. And they will find us. But it think we should keep this open so they CAN find us, don't you think?" he asks. She nods and taps her foot, sending the stone wall back into the ground. She sighs and leans against the cold stone wall again.

"They'll be fine," she repeats, barely whispering. "They'll be ok," she nods. She will keep saying that until they came back to them unharmed.

* * *

The family and the group had eventually reunited sooner or later. Aria had had a tearful reunion with her sister and her little brothers. Everyone just seemed shocked. Their life was gone. Their home was gone. It was the prison all over again, and Anna just sat glumly on a rick, staring at the smoke in the distance of the burning campus.

To their knowledge, they had taken out every single last one of the men, but there was no going back now. Their home was burned and crisped. The dead bodies of Jack and Paul in them. Both of them dead and gone.

Aria wasn't looking where the horror had taken place. She was looking out, hanging her legs over a cliff, looking out at the vast wonderland in front of her. Thoughts traveled through her head. They had been there for a year. Where would they go now?

She feels someone sit next to her and has half a mind to push them off the cliff, but once she sees it's just Carl, she relaxes and looks back out. "Hey," he says carefully, knowing she was fragile. She looks at him and he sees the blankness on her face.

"Hey," she chokes out. He takes a closer look at her and sees how dirty she is. She was covered in soot and dirt from her head to her toes, and she had many cuts all over her, just as her parents did. And she had gotten all those trying to get the kids out of the burning building. She would have been a great firefighter. "I can't believe it's gone," she mumbles. "All the hard work and care we put into it… all the memories…gone."

He gingerly places an arm around her shoulders as he sees her begin to cry. She leans her head on his shoulder and sighs, a few tears slipping out. "At least the families are safe and none of us got killed," he argues. She nods softly, glancing over to see Rick with Joey, both of them talking privately. She had seen the two get closer lately. No, Rick wasn't gay, but it was more of a bromance, and both had very similar ideas.

"At least that," she says, closing her eyes. "I don't know what's going to happen," she mumbles. "I have no clue what is going to happen. I just pray to God we all stay together. At least it's not like how it was after the prison. That killed me. Especially since I wasn't able to find you for the first few weeks," she mumbles even lower, but he hears.

"Missed me, huh?" he chuckles. She glares up at him, then rolls her eyes.

"You're ruining the moment, you cocky bastard," she growls, but laughing slightly. At least she had this goofball around her to give her a smile. Heaven knows she needed it.

Some feet away, Anna was watching the kids while Ethan lay asleep in her arms. Her eyes were blank. She felt nothing but hatred at the Governors men. She wanted to kill every single last one of them. Daryl sits down to next to her and notices her blank look. "Anna, it'll be ok," he assures. She looks up at him and shakes her head.

"Daryl…Drake's been bit," she whispers, looking to the newly married couple. It broke her heart. They just got married, and now he was death sentenced. "He's a goner all because of those stupid assholes!" she cries, a few tears slipping out of her eyes. He takes her in his arms and she cries silently into his side, his hand rubbing soothing patterns on her back, while Ethan lay still in her arms, sleeping soundly. "What are we gonna do?" she cries, pulling back, her eyes now red and puffy. "What are we gonna do?"

He glances at the sobbing couple yards away from them, looking at Maggie consoling her, and then back at Anna, determinacy in his eyes. "Survive," he replies. She stares at him for a moment, then looks around. First at Scarlett, who was with Hunter and the other kids, then at Aria, who was with Carl and had a sad smile on her face, then at Joey and Rick, who seemed pained at everything that had happened, and then back at Daryl.

She leans up and kisses his lips softly, and then pulls back, a determined look on her face as well. She takes his hand in hers and nods. This was her something. This was what they talked about in movies and books. Her family, her friends, this group. It was her something to live for. "Survive," she agrees.

They would dominate this world.

And they would survive.

* * *

**Whoa writing that lest section almost made me cry XD And that is the end if the story people! Love it? Hate it? REVIEW! And there will be a sequel with I am excited about! I can't wait to write it! I'm so pumped! And holy crap, Walking dead is getting closer! I cannot wait! And even if the story is done, that doesn't mean it can't stop you from reviewing! But first I want to thank everyone who's been with me through this story and I hope to see you again in the sequel! It's been so much fun to write and I can't wait to move onto the next one! Thank you so much! And as always, REVIEW AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED! THANKS FOR READING! AND STAY TUNED FOR THE SEQUEL! (SQUEALS) Ok fangirl out XD**


	29. Quick Note

**HEY! This is a quick note that the sequel is up and running! It's called 'Just Keep Going!' and it's going well! At least i think it is lol XD Here's the link **

** s/10085636/1/Just-Keep-Going**

**Thanks for reading Something to Live For and i hope to see you in the next installment!**

**~Ali**


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